chongli

I caught Eric Wood's segment on The Doug Gottlieb Show today on Fox Sports Radio. I just wanted to give a quick summary of what he said (couldn't find it on YouTube; maybe there will be a podcast or something out later). 1. Doug Gottlieb led by saying Troy Aikman is a much better analyst now on ESPN that he ever was on FOX. He speculates it is because Aikman know the ESPN audience in a more serious, sports-minded one, and Aikman knows this, so he has to prepare better. He then plays Aikman's clip. Aikman stated the NFL is great at maximizing profits, but is worse at putting out a good product. Aikman goes on to state that some of the games on one particular unnamed network this year were horrible, and that is because of the poor fundamentals, like tackling. He asked himself: "is this really pro football?". So, Doug asked Eric what he thought about that (he called him "Woody"). Eric said the way the salary cap is nowadays, there are less middle-tier vets, with 8- or 9-years' experience. They are mostly on the extremes: really good vets, or newer players with less experience. This is why quality of play has dropped. Gottleib went on to ask Eric about Aikman's statement. Eric said that is true too. The NFLPA has successfully argued for less contact is pre-season, as well as no two-a-days, like when he first started. So, this particularly affects QB's, OL, and some defensive positions. 2. Eric then stated you can't blitz QB's like Mahomes and Burrow too often, as you will get burned. You need to pressure them with just four guys. He said that is why the Bills got Von, whom they wanted as a "closer". With his injury, the Bills are weaker, but still can get it done, as they have a number of first- and second-round picks on the DL. He still gives the Bills an edge vs. Cincy or KC. 3. Gottlieb then asked about Damar, and how the NE game seemed like a Hollywood ending, with Damar facetiming the Bills before the game, then Hines returning the opening kick-off for a TD. he had never seen anything like what happened to Damar at the game. He and all the players this was something serious when they saw the medics rushing onto to field like never before. He also said he was calling the NE game the only time he had seen something as exciting as the Hines return for a TD was when Micah Hyde took a short onside kick back to the house. [Gottlieb didn't ask about John Murphy at all.] 4. Gottlieb asked Wood if the Bills were itching to face KC again in the Championship Game. Eric said that would be ok, or they would also be happy if someone like the Chargers knocked them out first. 5. Gottlieb then asked about how he felt with Atlanta being chosen as the neutral-site field. Wood said a dome makes it as neutral as you can get. Although he wanted Detroit or Indy to get the game, as that would be great for their respective economies, which needed the boost, Atlanta is already set for this, with all the direct flights from KC and Buffalo, and with all the available hotel capacity. He said there were some volleyball tournament issues with Indy, and Detroit was doing something with their turf that week. Wood said the whoever gets the visiting locker room in Atlanta will be ok, since it is much better than the ones at Buffalo or KC. Gottlieb stated that if the game were going to be in a dome and at a place with enough hotel capacity, he preferred the best site of them all: Las Vegas. Wood said Atlanta was a better choice for ease of travel for Bills fans.

They are so slow on FinHeaven. This was posted here 37 minutes ago, but just 2 minutes go on FinHeaven. [They were also saying there that it is too risky for Tua to play since he could be hit in the head by a snowball.]

No problem! You probably know this already, but the playoff crews are mixed all-star crews, so it won't be Allen's whole team. Here are the full assignments: https://www.footballzebras.com/2023/01/nfl-assigns-officiating-crews-for-the-wild-card-playoffs/ Two user comments from the article: "January 9, 2023 at 11:00 pm Adrian Hill offul and Alex Kemp offul all the others are good officials I think Brad deserves a championship or superbowl hes been great this season" "January 10, 2023 at 3:42 pm okay- so why is brad allen getting a wild card buffalo game for the 3rd year in a row?"

Well, according to FinHeaven, the refs will be biased for Buffalo, as the NFL wants us to win the SB because of the Damar situation. So expect everything to go our way. I'll take them for their word.

Noy sure if this was posted, but: Those referees will not be eligible for the SB now.

Updated today a few hours ago. Shnowman still in 3rd place behind Mahommes and Leno, Jr. But Saquon has overtaken Brandon Graham for 5th place. One more day left for voting. Don't let State Farm win this! https://www.nfl.com/honors/man-of-the-year/

Doesn't mean anything, but Buffalo is Number 2 in the final PFT power rankings. Well deserved!

And in 2025 if we both finish in the same places in our respective divisions, and again in 2026, regardless of where we finish. Then we are back in KC for 2027-2029 (if we again finish in the same spots). It all balances out. No one mentioned it when we hosted Pittsburgh three years in a row from 2020-2022. It is really not a big deal. It is what it is. (And GB also played at Dallas for like 7 straight times in 90's.)

It's not random. Everything is pre-determined by rules already in place for years. We play JAX, CIN, and TB since they finished first in their respective divisions, just like us. This was our year to play equally-ranked teams in the AFC South, AFC North, and NFC South. We could play KC at home three years in a row too, starting in 2024. As long as both teams finish in the same place in their divisions. It all evens out. Everything is pre-determined by a set rotation.

They did away with that years ago. Both DET and DAL could play an NFC team too.

Unlikely. The NFL dislikes inter-conference games for opening night (this year they didn't really have much of a choice with BUF-LAR). If Philly wins, they could play NYG, DAL, MIN, or SF. My bet would be SF or MIN. They probably would want to reserve DAL or NYG at Philly for a later SNF or 4 PM slot since they are guaranteed good ratings for those games regardless. While KC gets Eagles, Bengals, and us as home games (plus MIA and DET too).

Quay Walker of the Packers has deleted his Twitter account, after apologizing on it earlier today. https://twitter.com/quaywalker_ I didn't realize he was the one who shoved the Bills staff earlier this year:

Little annoyed that KC gets to host most of their tougher opponents: BUF, MIA, PHI, CIN, DET; while Buffalo has to travel to KC, CIN, PHI, LAC:

Nothing on the two Panthers' forums. Guess they don't care, lol.

As part of the NFL's 2023 Walter Payton Man of the Year award, Nationwide is having a sub-challenge where voters get to choose which players has $25,000 donated to the player's charity via a Twitter vote. As of today, January 9, Dion Dawkins is in third place behind Patrick Mahommes and Charles Leno, Jr. (OT from the Commanders). The 11th is the last day to submit votes, and votes tomorrow and the next day (1/10 and1/9) count twice. From the website: https://www.nfl.com/honors/man-of-the-year/ "Fans are encouraged to participate in Nationwide's 8th annual Charity Challenge, a social media campaign designed to support and promote team nominees. Fans can vote on Twitter by using #WPMOYChallenge followed by their favorite nominee's last name and/or his Twitter handle anywhere within the tweet. The player whose unique mention is used the most between Dec. 6th, 2022 and Jan. 11th, 2023 will receive a $25,000 contribution to their charity of choice, while the second and third place finishers will receive $10,000 and $5,000 donations, all courtesy of Nationwide. Tuesday Jan. 10th will be the final double votes day (where every vote will be counted twice), and check back at 5PM EST on Jan. 9th, 10th, and 11th for an updated leaderboard. The Top-3 Charity Challenge Finalists will be announced Jan. 12th." Dion's charity: Dion's Dreamers: https://www.dionsdreamers.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DionsDreamers More about Dion on the NFL's award website: https://www.nfl.com/honors/man-of-the-year/nominees/2022/bills BTW, a Bills player has never won the Walter Payton Man of the Year in its 54-year history.

Plus a new thread every month on why we have to always go to KC. Away or home doesn't matter as much any more. We'll see how good they are next year. Things change lot in the NFL (see Tampa Bay, Green Bay, Indy, Tennessee, Arizona, the Rams, Baltimore, and Vegas this year).

Gang Green for the Jets and Pats Fans for the Patriots There are at least four for the Bengals. Bengals Board seems to be the best. Their fans seem to be intelligent and polite, similar to ours, except for a few and this last week, due to endless complaints that they got the short end of the stick for being nice. SF forum seems to be populated by nice and intelligent people too. Same for the Lions. Miami and KC fans are entitled, rude, and obnoxious. The Bills Mafia is the best fan base in the nation, as there are at least 5 forums for us, with TSW being clearly the best. Pittsburgh and Vegas also have a ton of forums. Very little activity in the Rams forum. The Vikings forum are not readable, since everything is in purple.

Westwood One announcers for Miami at Buffalo: Tom McCarthy Ross Tucker Aditi Kinkhabwala