corta765

It use to be like March, then moved to early April, then late April, now it seems they have found their sweet spot in mid May. The attention given to all of the network partners and marquee games has made it a very complex rubix cube. It use to be 34 SNF/MNF games to figure out and the rest was either 1 pm or 4pm. If you are not in even 1 primetime game these days your team reallly is awful.

Prepare for it and I would expect Ireland.

Correct Buffalo is not going to be losing a home game overseas this year

Not sure that Miami wants to play a 2nd straight year on the road up north on thanksgiving. Could see them being really mad about that. The convenience of 1pm was nice, but it meant your team was trash which we were forever so no. I do not miss that at all.

The one which has been confirmed on why the Bills didn't get many primetime games at home during the drought is the stadium is a complete pain to wire up for a national broadcast and with the team not very good it was easier to keep them on the road if it was at night. I think the Pegula's did pay for some updates as the team improved to help that a bit. I also know the Bills in the drought begged for 1 pm games as the fans came as far as Binghamton so it was a better drive.

Listen to it in full and my early schedule thoughts are on point: -Bills in 6 primetime games & in total 9 national window games -Bills are playing on Christmas and possibly the night Thanksgiving game or Black Friday -Ireland is a real possibility Found it interesting that he said they may spread the Bills primetime games out instead of clumping them like last year.

Basically because of Josh there isn't in a single team in the other two divisions close to what he does for BUF and that raised me to the point I can't put the AFCE last as the other two divisions don't have a team of the Bills caliber. Otherwise completely agree. I can see the NFCS swapping with the NFCW. It is not being talked about enough how much talent SF has bled, the Rams roster is better but Stafford is older, the Hawks are doing things... not good things but things, and the Cards seem stuck in the middle. For a division that was the cream of the crop I can see the NFCS passing them for 3rd best in the NFC.

I like this as a ranking question. I would go as followed: 1. NFC East (SB champs, NFC title finalist, DAL you never know, ignore NYG) 2. NFC North (1-4 probably most talent of all divisions, but can't put ahead of PHI-WSH combo) 3. AFC North (Lamar & Burrow are great, PIT is consistently decent, ignore CLE) 4. AFC West (Curious if division finally steps up vs KC) 5. NFC West (Could see this division falling down a lot more this year) 6-8 Pick Your Order: AFC East (Josh best QB of all and Tua probably 2nd best so raises the boats) AFC South (Stroud is still decent & T-Law has had moments) NFC South (Baker has a nice home & maybe Penix otherwise yikes)

lol. Actually I thought he was pretty solid for PIT last year and it was a major mistake to move to Russ as Fields is a more dynamic player given his running ability. Had they kept him in I actually think they would've won the division which they pissed away. But no outside of going to Sean McVay or Bruce Arians who seemingly can fix nearly any QB that comes their way to being pretty respectable, I think Tyrod will be back to starting my mid season. As my uncle once said the Jets have forever played for headlines the Giants play for titles. The Jets post Namath have had blips but nothing truly substantial to build with AND the moment they get remotely decent they go big instead of staying competent and calculated.

The Jets are where the Bills were in the drought. They have tried everything (bigger and better too) with no change in result. It starts with the owner meddling too much and it truly is hard to see it changing until otherwise. IF they actually come out of that darkness no one will really predict it as much as it will happen because every other indicator says there is nothing to make you believe otherwise.

Really like your perspective so wanted to add some discourse: Miami- They have basically been a .500 team 5 years now. IF Tua is healthy and at his best they can win 11, but like you said they have a lot of whole and Grier has biffed it hard as GM. My question to you is if they take a half step back and go 7-10 do they move on from McDaniel too? At times he is brilliant and other times seems like a one trick pony. They remind me of the Bills with Tyrod where you knew the floor and ceiling was in the middle and with good talent and luck they could be a playoff team, but they were never a real threat. If I was a Phins fan not sure how excited I'd be. Jets- Honestly I am not very sold on Glenn or the Jets. The defense thrived under Saleh and has not looked good before or after. They seem to have a lot of holes all over and defensive performance varies year to year even if you have a solid defense. I am not sure the Jets win more then 6 games although they are closer in them as Glenn shows more competency in game mgmt decisions. Maybe you could tell me the greatest strength of their roster, because outside of Wilson & Sauce they seem pretty barren? Patriots- Vrabel as a coach is big because he will create a better culture and game mgmt then they had last year. I love that you said filling holes does not necessarily mean improvement. It reminds me of the 2021 offseason where the Pats spent a ton of money but did it truly make them that much better. Milton is legit but the remainder are older formerly talented guys like Banks & Landry. Vrabel will certainly get the best out of them, but they are more likely a band aid then the actual remedy. I wouldn't be surprised if Diggs goes 900-1000 yards and has a solid year... it also really doesn't matter if Maye can't take a step into the next level. The kid def showed flashes and NE has to have the highest ceiling of the 3 AFC division foes given the unknown of Maye. I think their ability to hit in this draft 3-4 true starters honestly means more to them then a playoff appearance. That mixed with Maye truly growing unlocks a far bigger future.

I have thought on this long and hard. The safe answer to me is Miami because right now I think their offense is better and Tua is better than Maye. In the NFL better offenses see better outcomes then a good defense. The Patriots are going to improve and their defense is to me 2nd best in division at this point. So much hinges on Maye taking a real step and if they can add some true talent to the offense. The Dolphins have been a team floating around .500 for a few years now (by a game or two either way) so nothing is saying they move much from there even if they are 10-7. But New England is a very attractive darkhorse playoff bet to me.

I am not disagreeing on the $$$ piece, but NFL fans are fiercely loyal and protective of their teams games. Even if with an 18th game it is neutral site game for everyone, that is a potential home game being sacrificed every other year. The league already has fans feeling the games are rigged, refs suck, the league doesn't care about the actual cites supporting the teams etc... nothing about an 18th game is in the best interest of the US fans or the game itself. At some point the golden goose gets kicked and you have a very very hard time putting it back together if at all. I hope it doesn't come to that as I love the NFL, but the true unique elements of the sport (like scarcity of games and primetime games having some true value) are close to fading and that is not a good thing.

I think the 18th game which will force the season another week longer, addtl bye, and starting the NFL labor day weekend is the breaking point. The NFL is truly underestimating how many families labor day use that as a vacation/party weekend and how many college fans use it as the starting point for that season as virtually every CFB team plays. Also the NFL's insistence on making more games global which will eventually make every team abroad each season is not helping feelings for US fans.

I am curious and willing to see over the next 4-5 years if the league sees KC regress and teams like BUF-BAL-DET-WSH etc new blood win the title if that drives ratings back up. I think the NFL let the networks go too far with KC-Taylor Swift watch and with KC winning sooo much in controversial ways it pushed people away. Also both NY teams and CHI being bad did nothing to help the ratings cause either. They are certainly getting fat on the golden goose, but I am really curious in 5 years if all those things I said change a bit if the NFL still says flat ratings or they comeback.

I 100% agree with you about Christmas games when the holiday isn't on Sunday as it is such a forced unneeded thing, but now the cans open and they will never put it back. I have barely watched any of the Xmas games outside of the night Ravens 49ers game two years ago and I only watched that in the background. I have already resigned myself that the Bills will play this year on Xmas and just hope it is at night so Xmas is over otherwise it will just be background noise at this point. Thanksgiving I am the opposite as my wifes family had a big party during the Cowboys which was a blast and I did not mind the other two. I actually have hoped we would get black friday as it would be a really awesome party to watch. In general the NFL is getting dangerously close to ruining its greatest asset which is scarcity of games. At some point trying to make tentpole games all over the schedule will go too far and viewers will not come the way they think. Part of the uniqueness that drove the NFL was you had most of the games Sunday with then the night cap and MNF. If you were in either night game it was special and it also highlighted the league itself. The amount of games they are moving off the Sunday slate means lesser matchups and in general a lack of uniqueness. One thing I have started enjoying with week 18 is they only have one night game Sunday and at most 3 on Saturday so you just have the whole league at once with the best matchup or two winning out as a standalone. Call me nostalgic or I am just getting old (heck yea lol) but I would love to see the league retreat back a little in terms of primetime. Thursday night I do really love because it kick starts my weekend as in Fall I have a lot of Fridays off with work, but some of the games really are just dogs and the player safety issues are no joke.

lol yea the lions have not earned the right for another day nor should they ever get that request. 3 good years does not make up for a half a century of ineptitude and bleeding eyes on thanksgiving

Best $20 you can spend! I have thought with primetime games in general because basically two decades worth of fans got conditioned to 1pm games 15 times a year they didn't realize if you are half way decent you play primetime and biggest nights semi regularly.

You can borrow my amazon subscription just dont buy anything lol

He stole his lunch money

Just want to note while they were top 3 (2 actually) in scoring on offense they were really more a top 10 offense as overall ypg, passing ypg, and running ypg where around the top 10 range. So I actually would like to see the offense move up top 5 in yards per game and be a little more diversified. How they do that? I don't care, Palmer looks to be the best deep guy they've had in a long timer but I still think their pass catching group is middle of the road and would take a bigger name to eat targets.

The fact Solak liked their FA is wild to me, he hateeesss Buffalo

The problem is it isn't one game or post season, collectively in every single Bills playoff loss to end the year since Josh was the starter the defense has wilted. Texans and Chiefs in 23' are the closest you've seen to the defense putting up a fight and I have been pretty vocal 23' the coaching staff did a good job given the lineup being so decimated. But when other opponents of KC the weeks before and after blow apart their offensive line but our defense can't it says something. Yes Benford was out, but the Bills got beat by Mahomes on scrambles left and right and other teams overcome injury yet we lose one guy and its 30 + points allowed again. Josh and the offense have scored 24, 36, 24, & 29 points vs KC. Until PHI ran rough shot on them in the SB they have been the only offense to put that many points on the Chiefs defense in the post season the last two years. The offense had a B level performance and still had the team to 29. At some point it would be nice for the defense to actually hit Mahomes, get some sacks, hold them to under 24 points or less once?! Not allow literally Mahomes to have some his best games of his career. You do realize the Bengals in both matchups with KC held the Chiefs to 24 and 20 points allowed? If Josh had that level of defensive support once they are in the SB or the AFC title game again. It is far more a coaching thing then talent at this point. Spags throwing the sink at Josh on the final play showed it in spades. It was a gutsy move but one that was unexpected and got Josh off just enough to force a tough throw he still almost landed. That is coaching at its finest.

Agreed. The numbers are staggering that against anyone else KC on offense is not nearly as good in the playoffs, but they really manage to get to our D and coaching staff hard come post season. 2023 I think the coaching staff (outside of the Hamlin Disney movie 4th down call) was the one time they actually went toe to toe coaching wise with KC and we got beat by bad luck and inches. The defense was scotch tape at that point and the only gameplan that worked was what the Bills did which was ball control the heck out of KC and hope by making them play a million plays you got some turnovers. Again, game of inches and it still didn't fall our way. But other than that the defense specifically and coaching staff is just a step behind every year come playoff time in the big game (especially vs KC). The offense in all 4 playoff matchups has been 24 ppg or better. I was and still am (a bit) critical that Josh had the ball and the offense failed this year as you would want that every time imo. But realistically they scored 29 points with a B level performance on offense and never got any real support by our D. Not once in any of the four playoff games has the defense put up a performance on defense that is any better then a C+ (2023) and basically told the offense good luck be perfect which they were in 13 seconds and arguably were in 23' given the gameplan at that time. Beane certainly is trying again to bring in new talent and blood on the d-line which has never done a thing in the postseason vs Mahomes and McD has brought in some new faces coaching wise that are different from anything he has used prior which indicates to me a new philosophy. But until the games start and performance is real I am skeptical in the defense and coaching staff.

Its funny because if you look at the Jets history from 1981 to 2010 the Jets were decently average with some good teams but never breaking through or having a QB that could carry the team. They actually made the AFC title 4 times in those 29 years and despite NE being there in the 2000s they made the playoffs 6 of the 10 years with 2 division crowns and an AFC title. The Jets have always well Jetted to an extent, but in the past it was more missed opportunities vs the last decade + of pure ineptitude. Before the Jets picked Darnold over Allen it was O'Brien over Marino. I always felt Pennington was a good enough starter to go the distance but once his shoulder got wrecked it was what it was (not sure though with NE there if it would have mattered) I think the issue forever with the Jets which my uncle summarized well is the Jets chased the newspaper headlines while the Giants actually chased titles.