Ray Stonada

Just curious, how many people played organized football, at any level? Do you find it helps you a lot to understand what's going on when you watch the Bills/NFL? What kind of insights does it give you? I don't have much real experience. I was a WR/DB on my college intramural team, but it was a small D-III college. Other than that, it's watching the NFL since I was 12 or so (in my mid-forties now), and playing some video games which actually helped me a lot to understand formations and defenses. Always wish I had more of an insider view, and wondered what I would be able to see if I did.

I met Jimmy Arias at the U.S. Open, told him we were both from Buffalo, he was funny and relaxed. The guy was the prototype for all the big Nick Bollitieri forehands to come: Agassi, etc. No one hit forehands with huge topspin, like almost every player does now, before Arias. Pretty cool to have contributed to the evolution of a sport.

Getting to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam is an incredible achievement for anyone. There are so many levels of tennis you have to dominate to get to the final eight in Melbourne. Literally millions of kids wish for, work their a@@es off for, and never have an accomplishment like this. The Pegulas should be, and most probably are, damn proud.

Oh man, how I wish I was there. We were traveling, but kept getting calls with updates, first we were getting blown out, then the calls started getting crazier and crazier! I think it's only home playoff game of the 90s that I didn't attend, darn it.

Eff Gronk.

TB's superior D-line and linebackers were a bigger difference than their very similar game plan. It just worked so much better with their guys. The main game plan difference was that they hit Kelce off the line, and we let him off free. But he ended up open a lot in both games, and with very similar stats. The bigger difference was TB created a ton of interior pressure AND edge pressure so Mahomes couldn't escape, and they stepped up in the clutch when KC got in their territory and stopped them from scoring TDs. Players making plays, not coaching figuring out the magic formula.

100% agree! The 10-day depression after losing to the Chiefs has been replaced by the burning desire to get to next year. We have as good a chance as anyone to win it all next year, been a while since we could say that. Reminds me of being 16, in 1991.

And his first SB they shut down the Rams' Greatest Show. (The times they lost, they felt superior going in, to the Giants and Foles.) Brady consistently gets his teams to focus and gel and some of what looked like BB's coaching seems to have been his leadership.

It's hard to overestimate the impact he had on them as a leader though. Getting them to realize they can win it it all and staying focused enough to do it, not getting complacent after each achievement including the huge upset in the NFC championship. This wasn't the Giants squeaking by the Pats twice. Defense AND excellently opportunistic offense won this game, in a blowout.

And Mahomes looked slightly tight going against Brady, the way Josh looked a little tight going against Mahomes.

Agree. Sometimes I forget about it and just see Gronk, and then I remember suddenly and get mad again about it. One of the toughest replays to watch, the way he loads up on a defenseless Tre with glee. Sick and cowardly.

Might not be a fair comparison: the Bills weren't missing both tackles, and TB's D-line is better than KC's.

Yep. We could dominate the NFL next year.

Brady, retire? The guy is already thinking who to be nice to in the locker room, to encourage them to come back next year and give them the best chance to repeat. In his mind, a repeat SB would put even more distance between him and Belichick, and everyone else in history.

I agreed with this, OP, but after the playoffs it bears revisiting. Our offense averaged about 20 points in the three playoff games, and Josh didn't look that much better in the AFCCG than he did against the Chiefs in the regular season. I still think the shoulder harness hurt him, but it seems fair to say he got a little tight against KC both times, too, missing checkdowns and playing with slightly less confidence than in other games.

About Kenny Stills, his best two seasons were 2016 and 2017, when he had 42 catches for 726 yards and 9 TDs, and 58 for 847 and 6TDs. The last three years he caught 37, 40, and 11 balls. John Brown has two 1000 yard seasons. In his last full season, 2019, he caught 72 for 1060 and 6 TDs. There's no reason to think Stills would be a better player. He's 4-5 years out from his best years which don't even match Brown's much more recent best year.

Another awesome read from the PT, after Shnowman of course. They know how to help a player find a great tone!

100% agree. And you can bet Old Spice is gonna sell a lot of "Dynasty"

Crazily enough, I've been a huge fan of Diggs but I still feel like I've underappreciated he brought to us this season. It's only now it starts to dawn how much he changed the Bills for the better.

There has never been a QB who looked close to what Mahomes has in their first 3 years starting: not just stats, but wins and clutch play. On the other hand, there has never been a QB with the career accomplishments of Brady, not just stats but wins and clutch play. DOUBLE the Super Bowls of the all-time legends of the game. Interesting that Brady seems to recognize Mahomes' special status and has even since that first season. Last night, he compared him not to other QBs right now, but to his own greatest rival Peyton Manning. After 9 days of being depressed about the AFCCG, I'm starting to look forward to seeing these guys go at it. Romo's right, it's unique. PS I hope Josh will be in the convo in a few years but I can't pretend he is now.

Exactly. We desperately need someone to reliably make the catches that automatically open up if a defense keys on Diggs, Beasley and Brown. And not to whiff completely on 20% of their run blocks. Basically, a JAG would be an improvement over Knox and his penchant for negative plays.

I need to visit La Traila. Wow that brisket looks good!

Cool. Along with Antoine Winfield Jr., makes me feel old though!

100%. We no NOT need to upgrade at WR, a stacked unit. We obvious problems at TE, OG, DT, and RB.

John Brown played pretty darn well in 2019, without Diggs to draw coverage. Buscaglia observes what some already suspected: Knox is a real problem. Not just that he doesn't make many positive plays, but that he makes a LOT of negative plays, blocking AND receiving (in the Texans playoff game he almost got Josh killed). He isn't improving either. Get rid of Knox or get a TE above him on the depth chart.