SoCal Deek

Just watch the Red Zone channel. It's a bit hectic but they actually do a really great job of skipping around between all the games so you see more football and less of those terrible sideline shots trying to see players sitting on the bench while the cameraman looks through all the referees and coaches.

I always find these maps to be fascinating. And this week I find it really hard to believe how spotty and limited the Bills v Dolphins broadcast area looks. For example, you can’t tell me that outside of the immediate metro areas of Chicago and Denver, fans are dying to watch the Bears and Broncos stare at each other. 😂

This schedule is the exact reason why I chose not to get Sunday Ticket for the first time in 20 years.

Hey Virgil What soccer match are you going to? I haven’t decided yet.

If it sounds like a lot to see....it is. If you see everything on my list I highly doubt you'll return wishing you'd seen anything else. Just take your time and stop in a pub or two along the route. And remember to save some sites for next trip. We did really enjoy visiting Windsor Castle, which is a few Tube stops out be Heathrow. That you'll want to do on another day, if you're up for it. Likewise there are tons of museums, if that's your thing...but I'd definitely start with my list. You won't regret it.

Hey Augie…it all depends on your ability to walk around. ALL of the below listed major sites are along a three mile route right along the Thames. In order of west to east: Westminster 10 Downing Street Buckingham Palace Piccadilly Circus / Regent Street The National Gallery Nelson’s Column/Trafalgar Square Covent Garden West end theater district St Paul’s Cathedral Shakespeares Globe Theatre (cross the River and back) Tower of London And when you get to one end you just hop on the tube back to your hotel. It takes the majority of a day but you simply can’t beat walking the streets of London. By the way….weather is currently showing temperatures in the mid 60s to low 70s for the course of Thursday through Monday.

Thanks Are Oyster cards essentially gone then? My wife and I still have ours from our last visit. If we now use my credit card how do we go through together? Do you just pass the credit card to each new rider in your party?

Another way to look at this is that Josh Allen is FOURTH in the NFL in number of completions behind only Cousins, Herbert and yes….Mac Jones. So Josh is clearly completing passes to somebody! Not sure I see much of a ‘handicap’ there.

I apologize. I was primarily looking for the teams we know are elite (KC, MIA, CIN). Yes, there are teams with two; for example the Texans, but I don’t think anyone believes they’ll be contenders this year.

Thanks but I’m honestly not sure what people want here anymore. The Bills are not a perfect team. And….neither is anyone else. Will we ‘struggle’ against really good opponents? Yes, I’m sure we will. That’s to be expected. (I’m just hoping we don’t do one of our typical mid-season swoons against a bad opponent.)

The premise here is that the Bills offense is being ‘handicapped’ by needing to help out Brown in pass protection. So…I went to the NFL league-wide receiving stats to see if this would show up. It doesn’t. The Bills have more receivers in the Top 100 than most if not all of the other contenders. For example, the Chiefs don’t have a single receiver in the Top 50. Kincaid has as many receptions as Kelce, who is their top target. Even with the Dolphins hanging 70 points last week, they only have Hill in the Top 50. Once again, it’s easy to be critical of our Bills, but the other 31 teams are far from perfection across the entirety of their rosters.

It’s only a small sample size so far. The Bills have PURPOSELY game played to go up against some top level D Line teams in the Jets, Raiders and Commanders. Anyone know how the Dolphins D Line has been playing? (We’ve obviously all heard about their offense.)

We’ve taken to packing light and doing it all with carry on. A small suitcase PLUS a backpack. You’d be surprised how much you can actually fit. It allows us to get around much easier once we’re over there with all of the public transport (trains and subway systems). PS: Don’t over pack. Just bring black and grey clothes. Europeans tend to dress much simpler. Funny you should mention it. StubHub intentional just emailed me my confirmation this morning. My tickets are confirmed and will be available for download when I get there. That’s how it worked last time we went to London too.

I get all of that. It’s the timing of the thread that had me a little perplexed. We just throttled two NFL opponents in consecutive weeks in what could only be described as cakewalks by league standards…something we’re told is almost impossible to do because of the elite level of talent across the NFL. In neither of the last two games, even with the Bills facing REALLY good defensive lines on both the Raiders and WTFs, did the offensive line, including Brown, get repeatedly embarrassed. So once again, while we as fans can always find something to complain about, this seems like a really odd time to bring up what we all already know: Yes, Spencer Brown is the weakest link on the Bills offensive line.

While adjustments have been made they’re never done until the coaches see if they’re working. The roster is set. The adjusting goes on all throughout the year and into the playoffs…God willing.

Again….no argument on the adjustments but ‘crippling’ us? Seems a tad harsh. Every team has a weak spot. Some have many. I don’t see this as being a huge issue, yet. It’s a long season and as Gene Hackman said in Hoosiers: “THIS is your team.”

It’s definitely a weak spot Simon. Nobody is arguing that. Not even me. The point is that THIS is the team for the remainder of 2023. If you can ‘watch’ that weakness from your television I’m going to assume the highly paid coaching staff can as well. Now…let’s see if they make adjustments for it. As I’m sure you’re aware, there isn’t a starting RT waiting to swoop in from the union Hall.

As I said…you do you. I’m going to read and listen to those on here who are sharing something constructive from their professional experience on the topic.

I’m fully aware. Just seems to me the complaining should reserved for Washington fans….at least this week anyway.

The Bills just destroyed the Commanders in a game in which we had something like NINE sacks while our starting RB nearly broke 100 yards and we choose now to complain about the offensive line? Okie Dokie?

Isn’t this why the team has a highly paid coaching staff? They better get to work and scheme up an offense that accounts for Brown’s shortcomings. And remember….No team has 22 Pro Bowlers on their starting roster.

They’d be forced to sit on the side without slot machines.

Linebacker Louis? Is that a thing? 😉

I’m guessing you’re more comfortable with people giving opinions with absolutely no personal experience whatsoever. You do you! 😉

It’s a balancing act for sure and different for every ‘boss’ in every industry. I always felt like I was wasting my time just walking around checking on other middle managers all day. Once you have the Process set, there’s more than enough time in your day to jump in and actually get things done. As far as I can tell McD is ready to take the next natural step.