Gen2

How about posters from the 50's ????

It's not all sunshine and lollipops people .... The punting game didn't do anything well last night. just sayin .... LOL out loud I think I heard somewhere that the Bills haven't punted in four of their last five games (I'm too lazy to look it up), but if that's a fact, being the Bills punter HAS to be the best job in the NFL.

Because this issue is twice as important as anything else being discussed at this time .... sheesh do I gotta explain everything to you guys ... LOL out loud

then we'd just close the dome ....... OH wait .... never mind

I'm not nearly as mad about the 13 seconds as I am about the Steeler and Jaguars losses, we win those two games, and the AFC championship goes through Buffalo and we don't have an overtime game.

Are you predicting more ................ or less??

Laughable beeeeeecause?

My opinion won't be very popular, but; the Bills have a tendency to start off slow, for example since Josh has been a starter our opening game score has been; 16 points against Steelers 27 points against Jets 17 points against Jets 3 points against Ravens On the other hand, the Rams tend to start the season fast; 34 points against Bears (Stafford's only start) 20 points against Cowboys 30 points against Panthers 30 points against Raiders My pick is Rams win with a score of 28 - 17

I'm going to take what will surely be an unpopular contrarian viewpoint. I've been a fan from the team's inception, I rejoiced when they were the powerhouse of the 60's, was just about suicidal during the 70 and 80's, was ecstatic during the 90's (except for the super bowls), again found myself in the depths of despair during the 17-year drought, I am now riding a crest of high expectations that will hopefully be realized before I give up the ghost, so I've run the gamut of emotions rooting for our team. While jealousy may be too strong of a word, I can't help but to inwardly smile every time I see a young boy or girl half crazed about the current team and wonder if they realize they are setting themselves up for an emotional rollercoaster for the rest of their life. Just like the Pats**** fans whose only memory of a NE QB is Tom Brady, their good times will eventually come to an end, sometimes it takes only a year or two, sometimes it takes a decade, but it will surely end. For those who say he doesn't get the "people of Buffalo", we as a fan base are wayyyyyyyy to quick label someone a non-fan when we cross paths with some stranger who happens to be wearing a Bills cap and he or she answers our "GO BILLS" greeting with a thumbs up and a wink instead of the obligatory answer of GO BILLS or how quickly we as a fan base will deride someone who may prefer ranch dressing on their wings instead of Blu Cheese. I must admit I did NOT read the article because I think Sully is a schmuck and I refuse to add to his "click count" but from what I'm seeing in this thread, other than the use of the word "jealousy" I don't think he's far off.

Watson will serve an 8-game suspension; however, he will be upset because of the way the Browns treated him during that suspension, so he boycotts the team and sits out the remaining 9 games.

Following that line of thought, how are the Pats fans justified talking about their unpreceded divisional run after OUR unpreceded conference run of the early 90s ??? It's all ancient history it's fine if you want to talk how cool it useta be ... but the more germane discussions are about the here and now and maybe into the NEAR future.

AND, he has more running yards for the Bills than Reggie Bush did just sayin

During my misspent youth, whenever I would give my parents some cockamamy story trying to cover up my latest misdeed, my mother would say "son, that statement just doesn't pass the smell test". Let's subject the "paying him to tank" statement to "the smell test"; You are the head coach of a team that the prior year had shown some promise and expectations are high for this year. You start the year 1-8 and the owner calls you into his office for a little talk. The talk can only be one of a very few scenarios, either; A.) Listen coach this team is better than this but the way were playing we may not win another game all year, start winning or you will find yourself on the street this offseason. B.) We're having a dog poop year, but I understand that we have some injuries in critical areas, so your job is safe, just do the best you can do. C.) OH boy even though we're only half way through the season we're going to have a piss poor record ... listen ... I'll give you $100,000 for every game we lose the rest of the year so we get a better draft pick. Keeping in mind there is no consensus "dynasty maker" draft pick at the top of this years draft (which is a gamble at best). Which of the scenarios makes the most sense, and which one could possibly make sense, and which one "smells" ridiculous to you?

Gabe Davis did something no other player has done in the playoffs ... seems like it's more of a tip of the cap to Gabe than mockery. If you think the donations should be bigger blame Davis for picking such a low number 😁

Does this make you proud to be a Bills fan .... or embarrassed? asking for a friend

All I can add LSF, is that Bill B is STILL playing chess, it's just we were playing football, and if you think about it he DID in fact take away an element of our game ... he didn't allow us to punt in the last two games 🤣

But if we had a dome it would be a moot point just sayin' 👀

Kraft is cheap

I think you are missing the point most people were trying to make. The NFL isn't "fixing" games against the Bills because they have some sort of vendetta against Buffalo, but they very well could be manipulating games outcomes to create hype and therefore viewership down the road. If the Pats didn't "magically" turn from a bad team into a dominate team, and if Buffalo would have spanked the Pats last week (like they SHOULD have) they would be in a commanding lead to win the division, and who (except Bills fans) would be interested in next weeks game? Why all of the baffling upsets this season? The conspiracist in me feels the league is artificially keeping the division/playoff races close to support interest for their new 17 week schedule, and their ultimate end game is to finagle a Bucks/Pats Super Bowl. We will see, hopefully the conspiracist in me is TOTALLY off base and it's just a whacky season, time will tell. So you see it's not just the Bills, it's just last week was our turn in the barrel. I haven't seen the game, so I don't know, but I've read some articles that it was the Steelers this week getting the "benefit" of a few calls on their winning TD drive against the Titans. And exactly what was the deal with the Lions and Cards???

I think you're trying to create an argument where no argument exists, no one ever said there was a conspiracy of any sort. Where you may be getting confused is I DID say the rules have been manipulated to increase scoring which in turn increased TV ratings, and I don't think anyone would refute that. The radio interview of the other day put me on a slippery slope and caused me to wonder if there could be the possibility of further "manipulations" to effect other desired outcomes and just how far the league would go and for what outcomes, and at what point does the fan base decide that football is no longer a sport but purely a scripted reality TV show. For example; anyone with a modicum of sense knows professional wrestling is scripted entertainment and in no way shape or form any kind of legitimate sport, however it seems to enjoy a rabid following (no where near the NFL, but a rabid following none the less). The discussions I anticipated were philosophical NOT factual and in no way intended to suggest that there is any "proof" of an ongoing conspiracy.

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/tom-brady-ratings-buccaneers-patriots-1235079974/ And that was for a week 4 matchup. No I don't think people who would normally watch the game would NOT watch depending on the teams playing, but IMHO a Bucks/Pats game would garner the people who wouldn't normally tune in, but want to follow the drama & hype of a Brady Belicheat showdown. I agree that advertising spots are sold for this game wayyyyyy before the participants are determined, but what about future spots when the NFL can show an out of this world viewer rating?

First of all Mickey the original post never claims any conspiracy theory, it was about an off hand comment I heard on the radio that got me wondering how far the NFL would manipulate the game to chase TV viewership. In my humble opinion, the evolution of the offense friendly rules HAS manipulated the game in that the level of scoring in your typical NFL game is much higher than the 50's, 60's, and 70's and the main purpose was to increase viewership (for the most part I see that as a good thing). As far as it being satisfying to conjure up an "explanation", I never intended to offer explanations, just voice a question that was raised in my mind after the radio segment. The question is in simple terms; at what point does the NFL turn into the WWE and if the league could or would go there to simply chase increased profits? Hopefully the league wouldn't go there because God knows I've spent more money, time and passion over the last 60 years being a fan. You can take to the bank my final point, the OP (me) doesn't think that I'm smarter than the rest of the posters in this forum. I'd place myself somewhere in the middle, smarter than some but most assuredly a heck of a lot less intelligent than some. However I do consider myself less of a jerk than most.

At this point I'm not sure what I think ... LOL As far as everybody having to be "in on the fix" I don't agree. All the league has to do is levy big fines if anybody ever questions the officiating .... OH wait I'm not sure how the leagues revenue sharing works for as far as the play offs and Super Bowl, but I do know that the lions share of the NFLs income is derived from their broadcast rights, and the cost of those rights are based on viewership.

I came to an epiphany this morning while listening to the NFL channel on the radio this morning. The hosts were discussing playoff chances of the teams currently "in the hunt". A guest made an off hand comment that a Tampa/New England Super Bowl would break all existing viewership totals. This got me thinking would/could the league manipulate the outcome of the season to chase that Nielson rating? Before you dismiss the thought out of hand, think how the league has "manipulated" the game to increase viewership. The rules have evolved to favor the offense to the point that the defense can hardly defend on any given play, scores have skyrocketed and all of a sudden the "casual viewer" becomes the rabid fan. Now that they have run out of not so subtle rules to favor the offense, "points of emphasis" come into play ... what's pass interference this week may or not be pass interference next week, what was holding last week may or not be holding this week, don't even get me started on the rash of illegal formation penalties this year. Don't get me wrong I enjoy a more offensive orientated game as much as the next person, and I understand the game NEEDS to experience a certain amount of evolution especially in the player safety areas, but it's getting to the point where the outcome of the game and even entire seasons can be influenced by a strict adherence to a rule, or simply overlooking that rule on any given play. Maybe I've turned into a cynical grumpy man in my old age, but this season in particular seems to contain way too may head scratching upsets, close nail biting games between two teams who don't even belong on the field together in "prime time", and dramatic straight out of the movies comeback victories to not make me think there MAY be something rotten in Denmark. Remembering the hype for the early season matchup between the Bucks and the Pats, just the thought of a Bucks/Pats Super Bowl makes me throw up a little bit in the back of my throat. What does everyone think, would (or does) the league "manipulate" the games/season in the interest of increasing viewership???