Kelly the Dog

That's immediately what I thought when it happened live. You have to challenge because of the effort and possible reward. In pre-season it's a no brainer. Especially so early. In the regular season it's not so easy a call but if it looked as close as it seemed to me I probably would have risked it. And I'm not one to like wasted TOs at all, they drive me nuts.

Still sounds discomforting.

Peterman/Allen is more like Jim Druckenmiller/Steve Young than Flutie/Johnson.

I think the more important question was, because it was SO close, and preseason, and would have been a huge reward for his young QB to get that first down and continue the drive, should McD have challenged, and I think that is a no brainer.

Brees' shoulder was still an issue. He and Dante Culpepper both wanted to sign with the Dolphins and the Dolphins brass, which was Nick Saban and others at the time, preferred Brees. But their doctors were very worried about his shoulder, so they signed Culpepper over Brees, even though he was coming off an injury, too. Then Brees signed with NO.

One of the many, many reasons that the Bills were never going to leave Buffalo was because contrary to popular and ill-informed belief, the NFL loves Buffalo as a location. People moving out of Buffalo to LA or other cities around the country remain Buffalo fans as strongly as they ever were, which isn't always true of other cities. And they are the ones that order Sunday Ticket and still buy tons of NFL merchandise and frequent sports bars and go on social media to still follow/watch the Bills, which the NFL loves even more than fans staying in their cities.

Rob Johnson was always terrible. Think about it for a second. This is a guy who is big (at least tall), with a big arm, who could move, who played at a big school, in a pro style offense, under a former NFL coach, and who came from a football family with his dad being a legendary HS coach who molded him... and what happened? He fell to the fourth round. Scouts drool over guys like that. They always always get overdrafted. They knew. The scouts and GMs knew. And we should have. Despite his one good game in Jax. The first game he played was a microcosm of his entire career. He started, played lousy, got sacked and hurt, and then Flutie came in to almost save the day. I think we lost on the last play missing a 20 yard FG or something like that. That game was the entire RJ/Flutie controversy. BUT RJ RAN 30 YARDS WITH ONE SHOE!!! ONE SHOE!!! You know who else can run 30 yards in one shoe? My four year-old grand niece.

I don't see too many plays for Lawson though moving inside. One of the very best things that could happen to the Bills defense this year is if Star can move the pile 2-3 yards back into the QB on passing downs. So Hughes and Murphy and Alexander can get sacks instead of the opposing QB having those extra yards to step up into a huge pocket. That was one of our biggest problems. We want Star in there as much on passing downs as running downs. Granted, he is not going to play the entire game. But with Kyle back later and Phillips a little not sure how many snaps Lawson would get inside. Surely some. But Star is a key and maybe the key to this defense this year.

Yep. Very much hoping that Trent Murphy is healthy, but Lawson is fine for a second string DE on run downs who moves inside on passing downs. That's a fairly valuable player. He doesn't ever look like he's going to be a solid pass rusher but he has shown a knack for knocking balls down and his speed and hustle on that 25 or so yard run against the Bengals was pretty amazing. We wanted and expect more from a #1 pick obviously. But he's a role decent player as is and there is no reason to release him.

That may be true. I haven't watched it since. And I believe you. However, as I recall his extended arm was OB before it landed and they were marking the ball where they thought the ball went OB as opposed to where he "gave himself up" or where his leg hit. And under challenge they MAY have ruled the ball was still in bounds as he hit the marker. Maybe not. That's just how I saw it.

True but he was underrated on the Bills, surely by a lot of people here. He wasn't any better on the Vikings than he was on the Bills (extremely efficient in both places) and he go no Pro Bowl bids. He had a few more INTs on the Vikes but the most he ever had was 4 and the three years he went to Pro Bowl he had 2-1-2 or something like that. He should have gone to pro bowl earlier on the Vikes. He was underrated there, too, for a few years.

It did look, however, that the officials marked the Allen play where they thought he went OB and not where he started his dive, they may have just misjudged it. I doubt under a challenge they would have moved it back and said he gave himself up.

Spartacus!

Yep on Brees. Although he was drafted at the top of the second round. And it should be noted that there were 30-31 teams then. I'm pretty sure he was pick 32, which of course would be first round any year since 2002.

Even out of bounds or at the goal line? I doubt it but you may be right. I would think that OB or at endzone would not be considered giving yourself up, only in the playing field, but who knows.

That really was a terrific return. Have no idea if he is highly regarded or not as a player.

Iirc we didn't keep Winfield because we wanted to keep Nate Clements who was up for a big contract the following year, and then we didn't keep him either because SF gave him about $50m which was ridiculous back then. That's how I remember it anyway. I always like Winfield better and thought we should have paid him.

I like McD but he has yet to show anything on offense, and his in game decisions have been suspect. Only his second year though. There is so much to learn as a HC your first year. That call, however, was lousy. You definitely challenge in preseason because your most important position is QB and your star rookie just made a gutsy athletic play which would have been a first down and huge confidence builder for him and the offense and the team, and if it wasn't won, wouldn't have hurt a thing.

The play he made with about 23 seconds left was very, very good. Rolled out, avoided rush twice, always looked downfield trying to get it to endzone, then rolled left, still looked, then ran 10+ yards, showing some decent speed, and got OB at the four, first down with 17 seconds, which gives you 3-4 shots at it. Excellent play there.

In honor of one of my very favorite all-time Bills, a warrior, a great player, and the best pure tackler I have ever seen anywhere, let me introduce to you, Antoine Winfield, Jr...

They better not run that play that was the pick six again in the regular season because it will be a pick six again unless Allen guns it. Having a running back run ten yards and then turn around and wait for the ball is stupid, as they just don't run patterns like WR. Even Cadet who runs good patterns for a RB. It's a pick six waiting to happen. AJ threw a horrible ball but a RB is just not going to plant and turn around and come back to the ball fast enough on a pattern like that. Even Shady probably wouldn't and he has some of the fastest feet in the league.

He is awful. The two guys they signed as FA, Newhouse and Bodine are just awful.

He cannot track the ball for ****, and he bobbles easy catches, but he gets open all the time. You usually can't teach the tracking thing although it does happen infrequently. With ten spots on the PS maybe he is worth it, but you probably put Reilly there if he is not claimed. Ray Ray Ray is making the team.

Thankfully, you're wrong.

You have to give him credit for hanging in there and making quite a few very good passes in the comeback. He surely got some luck on the penalties but he made some excellent decisions and throws, big and small. He's also really slow in the pocket and will likely get killed in the regular season. But he played gutty and they won, however ugly it was early. But that couldn't have been more fun than winning a national championship.