finn

Yep.

Maybe I'd feel different if the Bills went all the way, but the names you mention, along with most of the other ones that don't start with an "A," scream mediocrity.

If that's not the dominant narrative after the game, it should be.

Agreed. I'm just saying the Bills would have done better because Allen is extraordinary. The defense would have been humiliated.

I'm feeling pretty down on Beane's drafting.

I think yes. Really. Allen would be the best player on the field, and he would have done more with less than Mahomes, as he did all season.

How is that possible? He's the best quarterback in the league! I read that!

But somehow the halftime show will find a way to praise Mahomes and KC. Meanwhile, the rest of the sports world is all thinking the same thing: "How does it feel to not have the refs in your pocket, KC?"

Get both, man. Give away the rest of the D-line, except Rousseau.

Sorry, but Hurts is not a very good quarterback. He's a poor man's Lamar, at his best.

Beane would have had to trade up to get him. He trades up for Elam and Kincaid but not McDuffie or DeJean, go figure.

God, I'd love to see KC humiliated. Next best thing to Bills being in the Super Bowl.

"Patrick, the best in the world at everything, loses track of the defense, but did you see what an incredible throw it was to DeJean? There's not three people on the planet who can make that throw. He's just amazing. No one, and I mean no one, does it better, even interceptions. A thing of beauty!"

Even when Mahomes and Kelce mess up, we hear how they're the best in the league. I heard that before I could mute it.

Just tuning in. How do you mean not like the Bills?

You mean LaPorta, whom Beane could have taken (and saved a fourth round pick) instead of Kincaid? 6'3 245 Ibs, 4.59 40? Not taller, but bigger, faster, and stronger. And better.

Me, my gorge rises with every glaze of Mahomes. I don't mind anyone else receiving praise, but there's something about the prohibition of ever--ever!--criticizing that Kermit-voiced, fey, whining, graceless cretin and the equally strong imperative to deify him as All That Is Holy that makes me turn the channel whenever he's on the field. GAAAA! (Seeing my counselor again Monday. 😔)

Any sense of what they don't like?

Must be tough for Ravens fans, to have Lamar beaten twice by Allen in just a few weeks. First, he ends Lamar's great season, then, to add insult to injury "takes away" his MVP award. Not much left for them but ashes and vinegar.

I should use these types of comments in my class to teach logical fallacies. Someone says they suspect the game is rigged, and the Straw Men come out in force. My only question is why do you stop at claiming all the refs have to be involved in tipping a close game? Why not go whole hog? "Are you telling me that the entire NFL--all its employees, from Goodell to the janitors--ALL are working with Goodell to rig games? And their families, too? And the media and their families? We're talking nearly a 100 million people here! How could a hundred million people work in such silence to rig the game? It's ludicrous!" Straw Man right back at you.

If I were a conspiracy guy, I would suspect that the league is worried about the increasing grumbling that the KC-Buffalo game was rigged, and to quell it is now twisting arms to swing the MVP vote to Allen. Throw 'em a bone to shut 'em up.

Their bias has been well documented. Read Scorecasting by Tobias Moskowitz. But I suspect their bias isn't just unconscious. With billions of dollars hanging on the spread, wouldn't at least some interested parties try to persuade them to influence the game, even in a limited way? Think of a) how many highly motivated parties there are out there now with gambling legalized; b) how many ways refs can be "persuaded" to participate, the many variations of threats and bribes; c) how easy it would be for a ref to cheat; and d) how easy it would be to deny the cheating, especially with the full force of the league backing them, as well as many fans (albeit a dwindling number). All these factors add up to a high probability that at least some games have been influenced by at least one corrupt ref, with higher likelihood of playoff games with their higher stakes. As someone pointed out, cheating might not even be illegal, pushing the probability even higher.

It may be time to admit that the "everybody eats" motto was putting a happy face on a bleak situation. That's not a criticism, either; they were making the very best of a poor WR roster. Shakir and Hollins were terrific in their roles, the rest were frankly mediocre. Brady and Allen played a lousy hand brilliantly, which is why Brady drew interest as a head coach and Allen is the clear MVP.

That's like saying it's not a controversial statement to say Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were great players by pointing out how many home runs they hit in 1998. How many Super Bowls would Mahomes have won if the league, via the refs, weren't putting their thumbs on the scale? I don't care if he goes on to win ten Super Bowls. All but the first few will always carry an asterisk. One of the many disgusting aspects of the cheating, the one I'm least concerned about actually, is that it does diminish what Mahomes and the Chiefs have done. For this reason, rather than denying the cheating (which they have no part of), they should be first in line criticizing it.

It really may be time to move on from McDermott. He's had so many chances, especially in the 13-second game. My nightmare is that Beane will stick with McDermott for all of Allen's prime before even he agrees the man is not the answer or he himself is fired. And when will Allen realize he can't win in Buffalo with this coach and say it's him or me? We have the wrong head coach.