Lori

Actually, the Pats only drew 60K for the Bills' visit ONCE during the entire decade of the 1980s -- you guessed it, 1986, the year AFTER their Super Bowl season. 1985, the year they actually won the AFC championship? 40,462. More fun with numbers: The average NFL regular-season attendance total in 2008 was 66,625. (Source: 2009 Record and Fact Book.) Bills' average home attendance, for the ninth consecutive playoff-free season, and including the game in the smaller Rogers Centre: 68,996. (Source: 2009 Bills media guide.) Bills were blacked out a couple of times in Williams' first year, 2001, yet still averaged 63,092 for those home games. His other two seasons here: 2002: 68,463 2003: 73,015 One more thought: not counting the 1987 strike season, the Bills have sold more than 500,000 tickets at home (which works out to a 62,500-per-game average) in every year since 1985. So why do most people outside Buffalo seem to think the team has trouble selling tickets? (See Tim Graham's blog post regarding KC Joyner's latest study for an example.)

Counting to four is hard.

So THAT'S why Hennessey switched numbers so quickly!

Yup. Raiders have had at least two regular-season games blacked out in each of the last four seasons. And with coaches already throwing punches at each other in training camp, expect this year to add to that streak. Pats: 17,635 season-ticket holders in 1991, per their weekly game releases. Despite listing the 1996-99 games vs. Buffalo as sellouts, drew fewer than 60,000 to each one -- 55,014 to see a playoff-bound Bills team with hometown fave Doug Flutie in '99. Awe-inspiring loyalty. Fearless forecast: the Pats' sellout streak ends the season after Brady retires.

Someone called Carucci on the postgame show and asked why Gaddis was playing DT, when Manalac was calling the plays as the MLB on the third team. Not like it's the first time two players have ever worn the same number in the preseason. In fact, Ashlee Palmer and Marvin Philip were both listed with 61 on this year's original Buffalo News roster, and Nick Hennessey and Garrison Sanborn shared 69. (Yes, I believe there is a rule forbidding them to be on the field at the same time.)

So all we need is a circa-2002 Simeon Rice and Warren Sapp, and we're good to go? Yikes.

Best answer in this thread.

Wrong number. Owens took 81; Hardy is now wearing 84. Which means you can buy one, get an Owens nameplate for $20, and still come out ahead of buying a new No. 81 jersey (if you so desire).

Actually, he did talk, just not to CBS. Doug Ferguson's AP story, quotes included: http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/story/765580.html And I should note, I'm not a fan of his attitude either.

Mutual, I think. Taken from Mutual Assured Destruction ... Edit: or is it Modified? We need Jay, DC Tom, or JSP to weigh in on this one. And it was definitely about not messing with the Weaux Gods...

42-7 in the Pats blowout two years ago. When they sent out the FG team to bring the Bills within 32 points, Jack (whose spare club seat I was using) and I looked at each other and said, "You've got to be kidding me." Based on what we've seen in their first three seasons, if this coaching staff had been calling the plays in the Comeback game against Houston, it would've ended up a respectable 10-point loss.

Inside handoffs on third-and-long when the team is safely within FG range tend to do that. Jauronball redux.

Second that roster move. For that matter, why not pull a trick out of Belichick's bag and use a LB on the rare occasions (goal-line, mostly) when a FB is required? Oh wait, the Bills' RBs outweigh their LBs ... never mind.

Interesting thoughts on the backs, because the offense seemed to move more effectively with Jackson in the game. And of course, it's impossible to overstate the significance of Owens' absence. Heck of an adjustment by Nelson on the TD catch -- lot of TEs wouldn't have been able to do that.

Still very much a work in progress. I'd love to see someone break down Langston Walker's performance, because I thought he was fortunate to not get called for at LEAST three holding penalties on plays where he was cleanly beaten. But they don't show those kind of replays on the Jumbotron ...

Painful. Some of the staff bios aren't much better. Are they hiring copy editors, I wonder?

Good call. The original poster might also want to check the box score from Super Bowl XLI before passing judgment on this particular "kid."

Per Jauron's PC and the 97 Rock postgame, DFlo's was more serious. Carucci said Scott didn't appear to be limping as he came off the field. Oh, and Travis McCall also sustained a knee sprain. (Of course, none of that takes the place of the actual medical reports ...)

Okay, now I'm skeered. Kidding. Thanks for having my back, y'all.

I was thinking the alternate Shout! was later than that, because I vividly remember booing it. Suppose that could have been one of the few games I attended in the mid-90s, though, before I started making regular pilgrimages to Orchard Park.

Between the HOF, training camp, and Buffalo, I've put 974 miles on the car since last Friday night, with another three-hour round trip to the Ralph on the schedule for later today. From the time I left Canton on Monday morning until I unpacked the laptop at home this afternoon to finish the preview, my only Web access has been via BlackBerry, and surfing the Wall on there isn't fun. So, no, I haven't been around much. But from the sounds of it, that may well be a good thing. Eh, so it goes ...

Oh. Nothing out of the ordinary, then.

You're incorrigible. aBSOLUTELY INCORRIGIBLE. (Good seeing you, too. )

Uhhhh ... thanks everyone, I think. (Now I'm wondering what the hell I missed.)

You actually see her on opening day? HBD, cåble!