Lurker

I have no problem with it. Every game is valuable for the young players on this team, even at the risk of injury. Especially Josh, who needs continuity and consistency more than anything else. If this were some veteran bunch, like in the SB years, then yes--rest 'em. But the core of the team are young guys who need to go through the whole range of experiences in their development curve...

Man! Thanks for the blast from the past. I used to love that gum when I was a little kid...

Merry Christmas...

The only thing I care about is what the player does on the field. What they do when they step off it is who ha to me. I realize that's a minority position, but so be it...

That was great. Also, there were more people on the field than in the stands!

Damn, that looks pretty doable...

More confident than I am about the OP not ending up on my ignore list...

+1 And Josh said as much himself after the game. He gets too amped up at the start and has almost an adrenalin rush that makes him jittery. When that wears off and he calms down, he performs much better. The big thing that will help him is experience. He's getting a lot this year, with many tight games and the upcoming road playoff tilt. That can only help him for next year and beyond. Once he learns to slow the game down and remove the peaks and valleys, he's going to be something special...

Somewhere in the back of my mind is a small but growing thought that this year's focus continues to be about putting Josh in as many pressure situations as possible. Sure, making the playoffs is nice (maybe even a bonus), but the "process" is all about 2020. Forcing Josh to deal with tight, low scoring defensive struggles (almost like 50/50 jump balls) is about his development. Next year, when he has more weapons, maybe McD will take off the training wheels...

Absolutely. It's TSW. How about Daniell Hunter for Trent Murphy...

Personally, I'd rather swap WRs. Michael Thomas for Isaiah McKenzie....

Yawn...

Chuck Noll, Chuck Knox, Bud Grant...

Volkswagon...

Agreed. The only thing I can think of is that they're in full Texans mode and were willing to take their chances against Brady. McD was much more subdued that usual and not many players had smoke coming out of their ear holes. If this wasn't the case, however, I'd be really pissed with the conservativeness.

Curiously passive defensive game plan. No real pass rush, single coverage on Edelman way too often (and then with a nickleback or LB more than our best coverage people), poor LB play against the run and above all--too many missed tackles. The offense played about to form. We're extremely limited having just two viable WRs and a 50/50 rookie TE. That said, do we ever throw to the RB? Or run a short outlet route to the TE? The Bills put up a good fight but the better, more experienced team won. This is a good learning experience and should help as a tune up for Houston...

Excellent. Erither way, it's good for the Bills... MAGA...

Ain't that the truth. Oh, sorry. Can't use that word any more...

Didn't see this posted yet, but mods please feel free to delete if already posted: https://www.wsj.com/articles/if-the-bills-shock-the-patriots-should-a-national-holiday-be-declared-11576761327?mod=hp_lead_pos12 By Jason Gay Dec. 19, 2019 If the Bills Shock the Patriots, Should a National Holiday Be Declared " I know the country is roiling right now, ablaze with a president’s impeachment, a clamor of partisan finger-pointing, a lot of Beltway yappers barking in circles on cable news, and, as always, angry tweets. So many angry tweets. Also, there’s a very alarming new “Cats” movie, apparently, with singing, mewling cats. Still, I need everyone to focus on something much more important: The Buffalo Bills have a chance to shock the world. They can topple the mighty, mightily-respected, mightily-despised New England Patriots. I know. I told you. It’s a big deal. Knocking off the fancy Death Star Patriots? It’d be more seismic than impeachment. Clocks would stop. Mountains would move. Parents, children and dogs of all sizes would rush to the streets and dance. A national week of celebratory Bills Mafia table smashing would commence. ... But this could be the moment the Patriots are vulnerable—and not just vulnerable in the playoffs. They’re also potentially vulnerable in their own division, the AFC East, which has been a light appetizer they’ve snacked on for this entire century. Enter the Bills. Buffalo isn’t a perfect club—they’ve beaten a lot of middling teams on their way to their first 10-win season since Bill Clinton was in office—but they’re feisty, and they’re just one game in the standings behind the Grumpy Lobster Boat Captain, Bill Belichick. They have an excellent defense (third-ranked in NFL total defense) a sturdy secondary (led by Pro Bowler Tre’Davious White) and there’s stability at quarterback, in second-year passer Josh Allen from Wyoming. ... Head coach Sean McDermott has taken Buffalo to the playoffs twice in his first three seasons, and he appears to know what he’s doing, which immediately vaults him over basically all of the Bills coaches since Marv Levy left the sideline. McDermott’s turned the Bills into nasty visitors: Buffalo is 6-1 on the road this season after their Sunday night victory over Pittsburgh. Because of this, they actually have an outside crack at the AFC East. Let’s be clear: the Bills will need to win and get some help to do it. For the Patriots to fork over the division, they would need to lose to Buffalo Saturday and also drop their regular-season finale with fetid Miami. That’s a big ask. Probably not going to happen. But the fact that it’s the third week of December and we’re even talking about this is, well, staggering. ... This all could change over the next couple of weeks. A win by the Bills (5-34 against the Patriots since 2000) would be a mood-changing event. Even if the Patriots cling onto the division, a rival will have made them work for it. New England’s anxiety will intensify. I haven’t even gotten into the latest “scandal.” The league wants to know why a Pats staffer was videotaping the sideline of a Bengals game a week before New England’s game with Cincinnati. This is suspicious because A) it was the Patriots and B) who on earth wants to watch tape from a Bengals game? For Buffalo, it would be a stunning revival for a club primarily known for a run of early ‘90s Super Bowl losses and—more recently—viral internet videos of their tailgating fans jumping off structures and smashing into cheap plastic tables. The Buffalo Bills…AFC East champions? Unimaginable. The skies would thunder. Birds would sing. So would those strange movie cats.

no

Nice to be recognized but I'll tamp the brakes until we've won a playoff game...

Sorry, I stopped reading after the Dumbo video...

The only thing shocking about that video is the guy on the left's ears...

Good bulletin board material: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-we-learned-from-a-very-confusing-week-15-in-the-nfl/?addata=espn:nfl:teams DEC. 16, 2019, AT 2:58 PM What We Learned From A Very Confusing Week 15 In The NFL A FiveThirtyEight Chat Over in the AFC, the Bills are legit, with a convincing win over the Steelers on Sunday night. Buffalo has New England in Week 16. Do the Bills need to beat the Pats to prove themselves as a contender? joshua.hermsmeyer: The Bills … are legit? neil: Playoff bound! Big deal for a team that’s only made it one other time since 1999. sara.ziegler: They’re playing well! They even looked good against the Ravens last week! Salfino: I have thought for weeks that they are the poor man’s Ravens. But Lamar Jackson is just so much better than Josh Allen, whether it’s him or the coaching (very likely him). joshua.hermsmeyer: If the Bills move Allen to wide receiver, I think they might make some noise in the playoffs. Salfino: If Allen had just been a game manager in the Bills’ last meeting with the Patriots, the Bills would have won. But this is the problem with the Bills. When he’s not turning the ball over, Allen is failing to make basic NFL throws. He’s a high-variance QB and actually, I believe, a bad fit for a team like this. (In fairness, Allen was knocked out of that game early after being hit in the head, but not before he threw three picks.) joshua.hermsmeyer: But a completion percentage 14 percentage points below expected in Week 15 is Not Great. Salfino: Seriously, the Bills would be better off trying to have Allen run for 75 yards per game. But Allen is more of a power runner like Cam Newton than a gifted runner like Jackson. So maybe his injury risk with this volume is too great. sara.ziegler: So … will the Bills beat the Pats? Salfino: Nope. joshua.hermsmeyer: Nah. Our model has the game at 68 percent for the Pats. sara.ziegler: NO ONE wants to take a flier on the Bills? ? neil: I will say this: That’s the lowest win prob the Pats have had at home against the Bills since Matt Cassel was starting for New England. The Pats look vulnerable at home … by Pats-Bills standards Starting quarterbacks, Elo ratings and pregame win probabilities for the last 12 Patriots home games against the Bills, 2008-19 PATRIOTS BILLS DATE STARTER QB ADJ. EFFECTIVE ELO STARTER QB ADJ. EFFECTIVE ELO NE WIN% NE WON? 12/21/2019 Brady -28 1645 Allen +11 1572 68% ??? 12/23/2018 Brady +2 1626 Allen +49 1418 82 ✓ 12/24/2017 Brady -8 1694 Taylor +10 1509 80 ✓ 10/2/2016 Brissett -52 1593 Taylor +2 1505 70 11/23/2015 Brady +20 1733 Taylor -27 1523 80 ✓ 12/28/2014 Brady +12 1739 Orton +13 1513 84 12/29/2013 Brady -4 1669 Lewis -59 1398 87 ✓ 11/11/2012 Brady +17 1702 Fitzpatrick +6 1465 86 ✓ 1/1/2012 Brady +20 1736 Fitzpatrick 0 1399 91 ✓ 9/26/2010 Brady +8 1558 Fitzpatrick +5 1387 79 ✓ 9/14/2009 Brady +22 1663 Edwards +3 1470 81 ✓ 11/9/2008 Cassel -125 1555 Edwards +3 1483 68 ✓

Rather play the Titans. We own Tanny and I'd expect him to wilt big time under playoff pressure. Their head coaching in a one-game playoff situation is not as good as BoB either...