dave mcbride

Don't forget this game! http://www.billsdaily.com/articles/thunder/ne2.html Vinatieri missed a kick that would have ended the game in regulation in that one too. He must hate the Ralph!

Edelman was on the field in all of those seven games. Again, that is my point: that they are pedestrian without Gronk in an Edelman-less offense. Edelman was a huge loss for them - bigger than most anticipated. Amendola is a pretty good player, but he's not the safety valve that Edelman is for Brady. Hogan is a different sort of player altogether. Also, if you think the NE offense was effective against TB in that game, you didn't watch it. They were sluggish all night despite the high completion rate. They scored 19 points against the worst pass defense in the league and would have lost if TB had a competent kicker. They didn't convert *one* third down last night. That is unbelievable.

I derived more enjoyment watching that game than any other Bills game I've watched this decade save for the victory over the Pats in 2011. It will go down as one of my favorite football viewing experiences ever. I loved that game. Everything about it.

The fact that he didn't sneak it last night at the one foot line tells me that perhaps his achilles is more of a problem than he's letting on.

That's sort of my point. Brady has two go-to guys at the end of the day: Edelman and Gronk. If he loses one, he can survive because the other one, combined with the other good players, can handle the job. But if he loses both, he's kinda screwed. I was saying that they are pedestrian in the absence of Gronk, and the evidence attests to that. They struggled against TB, a team which has a HORRIBLE pass defense (as in worst-in-the-NFL bad).

Agreed. The Bills needed something like Cam Newton, Derek Carr, Marcus Mariota, or Matthew Stafford going down with a non-crippling injury and ending up with a very high pick as a consequence. It didn't happen. The draft targets now are Indy and SF. Unfortunately, SF looks to be decent now with Garrapolo in there and may win 4-5 games. He's a very good player. Great trade by the Niners.

I get the sentiment for taking Watson, but I do think that both Rosen and Darnold are surer bets long term than Watson (I realize I may prove to be wildly wrong). The Bills at least got an extra first and have a lot of room to move given the extra second as well. The Browns and Giants are both likely to take a qb, though, and they won't trade out.

I hope you're right. I do think that Miami is a little soft mentally and is due for a letdown after beating down the Pats. That said, their d-line can bring it. They have a lot of talent. Their achilles heel is their pass defense (opposing teams have a 94.0 passer rating) but that tends to not be a problem for teams facing the Bills. That's my concern. Tyrod needs to step it up on Sunday. He has played well against Miami in the past. The Bills dominated in both games in 2015 and should have won their home game last year.

And we have been reminded yet again that Jay Cutler is a very talented QB. He made some fantastic throws last night. He's such a maddening player - so talented but .500 all the way at the end of the day. If he's on, though, watch out.

I actually think the Steelers, who have a healthy LeVeon Bell this time around, will win. I just don't see the Pats' D stopping the Steelers offense.

They are pedestrian THIS YEAR because of the absence of Edelman. They've played two games without him now (against TB too) and have looked extremely ordinary. With Gronk in there, Hogan is going to open and/or single-covered on many of these deep throws. Gronkowski's actions cost the team a game.

It's football alright - just not the same old same old. Variety is the spice of life, and more to the point, that was a hell of a show yesterday. Total entertainment from start to finish, and a nail biter to boot.

I watched it a bunch of times and it seemed to me that he initiated contact at around the 1.5-2 yard line. It was definitely in front of the goal line.

I watched it five times and it happened within a yard of the LOS (between the 1.5 and 2 yard lines). Probably shouldn't have been called ...

I cannot believe that there are fans here who didn't love watching that yesterday. It was amazing entertainment and a ton of fun to watch from start to end. The last thing I want is for all venues to be the same. If you don't like snow football, take a look inside yourself because it means a small part of your soul has withered and died.

You didn't actually respond to the point I made. I suggest at least thinking about it.

I'm personally opposed to a monoculture in which every goddamn thing is the same and their is no room for quirks and oddness, like snowy venues in relatively unique cities. I'm not sure if you're from Buffalo, but I'd venture to guess that most here are and that they root for the CITY, with the team and sport being incidental. If the Bills left Buffalo, I'd never watchan NFL game again.

Most of Teddy Cutler's interest seems to revolve around English football. https://mobile.twitter.com/TeddyCutler He appears to be COMPLETELY unqualified to opine on the NFL. Also, re his tag: "Not a father or a 'lover of life'"? You're neither funny nor clever, dude.

... and then the Cowboys traded Walsh to NO for a #1 and #3 in 1991 plus a #2 in 1992. It's kind of hard to figure out who they took with those picks without a detailed draft history, but in 1991, they drafted Russell Maryland, Alvin Harper, and Kelvin Pritchett in the first round, and then took Erik Williams (the most dominating RT I've ever watch) and James Richard in the third round. Pritchett never played for Dallas: they traded him that same day for Detroit's picks in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th round! In the second round in 1992, they took Jimmy Smith and Darren Woodson, both HOF-caliber players.

It's certainly interesting in that many might be multi-year contributors because THEY PLAY FOR THE BROWNS! The Browns actually have to field players every week, and their only options are the ones on the team. Just because a player plays for a while is no indicator of whether he was a good pick or not, especially on teams like the Browns.

The Bills will go after a qb this year and will spend the necessary fortune to get him if need be. They can't not do this. This is a GREAT qb draft. No one is perfect, of course, but it's the best QB draft in a while.

I watched a bit of the Rams-AZ game on Sunday. Watkins wasn't targeted all that much and the Rams won easily, but the thing I saw from him is a guy who literally explodes out of breaks with the sharpest of cuts. It creates so much separation, even when the DB is an equally explosive player like Patrick Peterson (who was covering him). No one on the Bills can do that. It's really evident when you watch Watkins. He's a really, really strong and explosive player.

Sadly, at that point of the game Jones was their best receiver by far out there. And he does have height. Did you see that pathetic drop by Matthews on an easy throw-and-catch at around the Bills' 25 yard line?

I think Dennison is terrible, but I think you might be misinterpreting this. The game was without question OVER (i.e., down by 3 TDs with less than 9 minutes to go against the best team in league history), for one. Secondly, they know McCoy is capable of scoring. But they don't know if a) the QB can make that throw in a live-game situation with accuracy (a throw that decent QBs have to occasionally make) and b) if their highly drafted receiver can make contested EZ catches on a bread-and-butter fade route against a good DB (a catch that decent WRs have to occasionally make). I'm fine with that series at the goal line. Again, though, I viewed it as a preseason-like series, and I don't like Dennison at all.

I'm done with Tyrod, although I like him and think he can succeed in certain situations (but not here). That said, I think it's fair to say that he's not the only problem with the Bills passing game. The receivers this year have been TERRIBLE. Even Jones, who has improved, NEVER gets separation on deeper throws. CBs are attached like glue to him on pretty much all such plays. And he's the best they have had this season. It's a truly terrible group of receivers.