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It was one of those lowlights as a Bills fan, of which there were many over the years. Living in Chiefs country, my son and I watched the game in a sports bar, filled with Chiefs fans priming for their 3 pm game and people in for the other early games. Watching the beat down, the looks we got from around the bar were more of pity than anything. By half time, Peterman had thrown 2 ints and the Bills O had something like 20 yards and O 1st downs. When they trotted Allen out to start the 2nd half, a guy at the next table leaned over to me and said "I can't believe they are putting him this early." I just said, "they don't have a choice, they can't go on without a 1st down for the entire game". He just gave me a "yeah, you're right look" added by another look of pity. Later that day, Mahomes started his first game as a full time starter. He threw for 250+ yards and 4 tds. Not a good day. It wasn't just Peterman though. It was one of the worst offenses possible. The Oline, absent a 2nd year Dion Dawkins, was bottom of the barrel. Wood was forced to retire. They dumped Incognito who was replaced with Vlad. Miller was a low end starter. Jordan Mills was ..Jordan Mills. The WRs they brought in were Kelvin Benjamin and Andre Holmes. Outside of a raw rookie in Josh Allen, Shady and a young Dion, it was pretty pathetic (half credit for Zay Jones). after 2018, I doubt half of those guys started 10 games for other teams. My big fear was something we saw in Buffalo forever during the drought years. Bring in a defensive head coach. Make the priority of getting talent for the D to "fit the scheme of the coach" Make the offense an afterthought. Fortunately, they learned something from 2018. Not totally, but at least they made an effort to get some protection and some weapons for their young QB.

McGovern surprised me in his run blocking. He was always known more of a pass protector, of which he was pretty good..in Dallas. Cybo fell into their laps. He was the best IOL in the draft that year and did great during the Senior Bowl practices. There's no way he should have fallen to the bottom of the 2nd. Based on what the OL was like the year before, Josh might have pummeled Brandon if he wasn't drafted. Brown was a tough one going into last year. I always liked the pick, based on his athleticism. But a year long back problem, at his young age and the way he played the year prior...it was a risk. But it has been working. Keep in mind that in OTAs before the 2023 season, Dawkins was up to around 370. He could have easily eaten his way out of the league. Instead, he went on the Chipotle diet and dropped 40lbs before the season began. Its paid dividends. Edwards- meh. He might not be a huge hole, but he's the weak link. But its easier to cover up one weak link as opposed to 3, like they had to do in 2022.

You see lists like this and you forget just how many good LT's there were in the past. Most are deserving to be on the list. Joe Thomas def. belongs there. He also gets the gold medal for the best location when getting the call that he was drafted. No limo ride to Radio City; No custom made suit; No bear hug of the Commish; Nah, when he gets the call, he's out on a boat on Lake Michigan, fishing with his dad. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2790897101213721 "Joe, this is the Cleveland Browns, we just drafted you with the 3rd pick in the draft" "yeah? That's great, can't wait to get started. Oh, gotta go, FISH ON!" Somehow, I think they could have recreated that scene in the movie Draft Day.

This guy is having fun breaking down the Josh Allen revenge play. But yeah, watching Josh stiff arm the loser and run past him was pretty good.

Yeah, Roaf definitely belongs on the list. I watched him more in KC than NO, but he was a wall. Rarely out of position, rarely beat around the edge, so he made people take him head on. And pass rushers just bounced off of him. He was scary good.

Sadly, the Speedway location closed during Covid. They are down to the original, legendary Brooklyn Ave. location. If you are going all out with Burnt Ends, I suggest you make their traditional fries on the side. Fresh, hand cut Russets, skin on, cooked in lard.

This is a reason I don't miss the rust belt for vehicles. I have a 2008 Saturn Vue that I bought about 5 years ago. I'm an A to B vehicle owner anyway, so it just needs to be relatively reliable. I don't drive as much so its mostly around town. I got it for several thousand below Blue Book, and I think its because it has a 5 speed manual. I figure, with an older vehicle, its far cheaper to replace a clutch than an auto tranny, in which case, if an auto goes, you might just chuck the vehicle. I haven't had many problems so far. A brake caliper had to be replaced, the battery last year and then some regular maintenance. I did those things myself. ANOTHER huge reason about non rust belt cars. As old as it is when I have had to do some fixing, no rusty bolts, no rusty connections, no rusty frames, no rusty anything. Except for a spot of peeling paint on the driver side door, it shines up like new. I've had 2 vehicles in the past that I pushed past 200k, one of them actually went past 300k. Its really a fake compact SUV. FWD and a 4 banger motor. The only real problem with it is the transmission is geared really high. On the highway, it runs a little over 3k on the tach at 70. I hate that. Wayyy too high and wayyy to bad on gas. But in town, where I do most of my driving, it gets around 30 mpg. People here in the midwest don't think as much about buying an older vehicle. Motor, tranny and AC are more of the bigger risks than it falling apart due to rust.

It reminds me of this it was so close:

I didn't know they had a printed catalog, but their wish lists are pretty popular. And convenient too. For son's birthday last month, he had books and movies that I had never seen before, or heard of.

Very very happy for both of you! I'm also coming up on a 5 year anniversary related to cancer. My wife was diagnosed in Dec 2019. Unfortunately, the results weren't so positive. Cherish your time together, and again, I'm happy for the both of you! If you have a local Relay for Life, get her in the Survivor Lap!

We could really use Nathaniel Hackett calling plays for the Jets tonight.

The Exorcist - good vs. evil in its simplest form. A demon, a priest, a bedroom, holy water and the soul of a young girl at stake. The rest of the back story is just fodder, except for the contrasting personalities of the priests. The older priest who has fought the demon before vs. the young, medically educated priest experiencing a crisis of faith. Best line of the movie: Karras- "I think it would be helpful to share some of the background of the case." Merrin- "Why?" Carnival of Souls - An early 60's, low budget movie that has developed a cult following over the years. Some of the acting and special effects are MST3k cringe worthy, but it does have a Sixth Sense twist decades before the Sixth Sense was made. The Shining- I loved the book, and Kubrick definitely strayed from the book, much to the ire of Stephen King. But then, King tried his own version of it that was close to his novel, and it didn't quite do it. Peeking in the background of this Mt. Rushmore is Rebecca Ferguson, who absolutely killed it as Rose the Hat in the sequel, Dr Sleep. Crossroads - Ha! I know, But it DOES have a Faustian Deal With the Devil as its central theme, so in a way it qualifies. OK, I liked the music. One horror movie I'd like to see, with a local flair for me. It is regards to a tiny rural cemetery near me. It is known as Stull. It has plenty of elements of a good horror flick. And the story behind it kept getting bigger as the years went by. -It is known as one of the Seven Gateways to Hell; -Satan himself makes a physical appearance on Halloween and the first day of spring; -He goes to visit the grave of his earthly wife, who was hanged as a witch in the 1800s; -there is a grave in it, appropriately labelled as Wittch; -they had a werewolf son, who is supposed to prowl along the woods near the graveyard; -there are steps that descend to hell, which appear only on Halloween; -going down the steps means that you won't come back; -the old 19th century church (since torn down) was without a roof for decades. Legend is that when it rained, rain wouldn't end up inside; -forming two bottles in an inverted cross inside the church, and throwing them at a wall...the bottles would never break; -in the 1990s, when the Pope was flying to Denver, he ordered his pilot to divert course around eastern Kansas as he wouldn't fly over unholy ground -a small local population very suspicious of outsiders. (That is very true). Anyone inside the cemetery after dark, is usually arrested within minutes of entering. Anyone parked on the road after dark will find a patrol car pull up behind them within minutes. (of course the logical explanation is that the locals are tired of people going in and vandalizing, but then its a nice back story.) https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/experiences/kansas/ks-creepy-hell-stull There are plenty more stories created over the years. idk...I just think an inventive movie person could create a decent movie out of the stories.

Is that the same Ray-Ray McCloud who had 36 yards as a Bill? That's a "very good pick" ? You are proving my point. You know, we're not talking about his picks for a year or two, we are talking about 7 years. Now, moving forward, I'm not advocating firing Beane, never have. What I AM saying is that for this position group, he needs to put his ego aside and delegate to someone with a better track record. AND...as I said in my OP in this thread, he needs to give this person authority over FA'cy acquisitions and early draft picks. Sorry, Beane went back to his 2018 ways regarding the WR position and it is showing. It can't happen again. I only hope he realizes it and takes action.

Shakir kinda fell into their laps. What I mean is that I remember the year he was drafted, we needed a DB. And I remember watching senior bowl practices that year, the WR-DB drills. As I was watching, I kept seeing one WR who none of these DB's could cover. It was Shakir. I started looking into him and he checked a good number of boxes, (except arm length). Decent size, pretty good speed, great work ethic, and that ability to get separation early in a route. He really should have been taken earlier. So when he was there in the 120's, the 5th round, to me, its more of a guy falling into their laps than finding a hidden gem. At least to me. He gets half credit for Gabe Davis. A good pick, but I guy who is, and will be limited in what he can do. So even giving him credit for Shakir, you have 1 1/2 "hits" in 7 years. And most importantly, 5 games into his 7th year of his regime, you have people begging to trade fora 32 year old WR because it is clear that the WR corps is seriously deficient. At a time when he needed to rebuild his WR corps, his semi-big FA signing was a former draft pick of Carolina, a guy drafted while he was there. Not really much different than trading for Kelvin Benjamin while he was here. "when you don't know, go with what you know. And he goes back to Carolina ...again" No, its time for Beane to have a come to Jesus moment and do some self evaluation. I'd be happy if he did and realize he needs help. Because the 2024 WR corps says that he does.

Overall he has, there is no doubt about that. But every GM has its strengths and weaknesses. Even Ozzie Newsome, who could have been the best GM in our generation, had his weaknesses. (WR and QB). WR is not one of his strong suits. It applies to both drafting and FA pick ups. It started when he got here, his 2018 WR corps was horrid and made worse by actually trading for Kelvin Benjamin. To an extent, I think he understood it, and ended up with John Brown and Cole Beasley the next year. He really seemed to understand it in 2020 when he used a 1st round pick for Diggs. It was as much an admission of his inability to find a stud in the draft, as much as it was getting a vet stud for his new stud WR. Now, jumping ahead to 2024, after 4 years of Diggs, the WR room has been gutted. And the current WR corps, save for Shakir, looks as bad as it was in 2018. And that's bad when you have one of the best QB's in the league. Is there a solution? Yeah...he needs to put his ego aside (McD as well), he needs to bring in a senior scout/asst GM with proven experience in judging WR talent. AND...he needs to give the guy control. As someone said in another thread, he and McD need to be locked in a closet for the first three rounds of the draft. It really should have been done this year, but what's done is done. But Josh's window is closing, and this is no time to be pretending that you can judge WR talent, when you can't.