Dallas @ Buffalo Postgame Thread

[zow2]

3 minutes ago, ToGoGo said:

Dallas should be all healed up from whatever bug they had this week. 

 

I also like Dallas at Miami.  The sidelines shots late in the game were telling. They were humiliated. Their manhood was stolen. They were pissed and i’m sure will have one helluva week of practice.  They will be out to prove they can beat a good team on the road, and Dallas is better than what they showed today, obviously.

[K-9]

2 minutes ago, BRH said:

OJ’s highlight reel is jaw-dropping.  He had size, speed, and he could cut on a dime.  Thurman ran lower to the ground and made himself skinny to get through tackles.  They both could catch and neither of them ever seemed to get hit hard.  
 

I loved them both when they were here.  Hopefully Cook will add his name to that list.  

Yep. I’ve never seen a running back with the kind of elusiveness OJ possessed, let alone combined with his world class speed. At training camp up at Niagara U back in the day, he was time in a sub 4.3 with a stop watch. Crazy stuff at the time, but when you consider he was part of a world record holding 440 relay team in college, it’s really not that surprising. 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

7 minutes ago, BRH said:

OJ’s highlight reel is jaw-dropping.  He had size, speed, and he could cut on a dime.  Thurman ran lower to the ground and made himself skinny to get through tackles.  They both could catch and neither of them ever seemed to get hit hard.  
 

I loved them both when they were here.  Hopefully Cook will add his name to that list.  

Thurman had as good or better vision on the field as OJ. He set up blocks better than any RB in Bills history. 

No one will match OJs combination of speed, size, and power. There are only a few backs in league history that were as physically gifted as OJ. 

Thurman is still my favorite Bill of all time as I started watching in 1980 so I only saw OJ highlights. I loved Cribbs back in the day. I have an affinity for pass catching RBs like Edgerrin James, Tomlinson, and Faulk. 

Cook looks like he has the tools to be that kind of player if he gets the targets.

[IronyAbounds]

2 hours ago, ToGoGo said:

 

Unexpected losses happen every week. It will all shake out in our favor. NO WAY that everything goes against us if we win out. These negative scenarios would only play out if we lose 1 of our next 3. 

I agree totally if we win out we are in. I was responding to the need to win out and discussing the prospect of getting in with 7 losses. It's hard to believe a 10-7 won't make it, but at this point unless the Dolphins lose out it is dicey at best for the Bills to get in at 10-7. Easy solution is to go 11-6 where it is almost impossible for the Bills not to get in.

[Sierra Foothills]

5 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

Are people having trouble tonight following the conversation?  OldMan said the Bills haven't had a running performance like that since OJ.  Running.  What difference does it OJ's receiving make in a conversation about Cook's running. 

 

But, if you want to have a conversation about OJ's receiving ability, he was an excellent receiver.  He was a receiver before he became a running back, and as a receiver with the Bills, he was excellent.  He wasn't targeted as often as Thurman, but his yards per reception were better than Thurman's.  His touchdown production as a receiver was better, on a percentage basis, than Thurman's  

 

Great as Thurman was, put OJ in the K-gun and the Bills might have won four Super Bowls in a row.  

 

1 minute ago, K-9 said:

He was fine as a receiver, but simply wasn’t utilized as such very often. Most of the great running backs in that era weren’t really utilized as such. He had a decent YPR average when he was here though. Better than Thurman’s for what it’s worth.

 

I find these comparisons absurd though. OJ was a legit threat to score from anywhere on the field on every play. If TT had OJ’s world class speed, he would have been, too. But he didn’t and that’s why we never thought TT was gonna break off 80 yard runs with regularity. Whereas we always had that feeling with OJ. You literally felt it in your gut on every run.

 

First off, OJ Simpson was one of the top 5 running backs of all time.

 

I love Thurman but he benefitted from being on much better teams than OJ. Thurman played in 21 playoff games. OJ played in 1.

 

OJ's playoff appearance was in 1974 against the eventual Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers. Against the vaunted Steel Curtain Defense he ran for 49 yards on 15 carries. In their next two playoff games en route to the Lombardi Trophy the Steelers gave up 29 yards rushing on 21 carries to the Oakland Raiders in the AFC Championship Game and 17 yards rushing on 21 rushes to the Minnesota Vikings in the Super Bowl. To summarize:

 

OJ Simpson                         15 carries 49 yards, 3 receptions 37 yards, 1 TD

Oakland                            21 carries 29 yards, zero offensive TDs

Minnesota                        21 carries 17 yards, zero offensive TDs

Oakland + Minnesota      42 carries 46 yards, zero offensive TDs

 

Cook is stylistically unlike OJ or Thurman but he's more similar to Thurman IMO.

 

Cook has an explosiveness more similar to OJ but he exhibits the patience and some other traits of Thurman. OJ was not a patient runner... he dictated to the defense. Cook looked like Thurman today, getting small, finding creases, waiting in holes, hiding behind blockers, and then bursting through openings.

 

[IronyAbounds]

OJ could cut through defenses like few others, just like he could cut through...never mind.

[chongli]

Brazilians know football:

 

 

 

 

[Scott7975]

Funny thing is if the Bills win the division it is likely that we play Miami in the WC round for the second year in a row.

[K-9]

5 minutes ago, Sierra Foothills said:

 

 

First off, OJ Simpson was one of the top 5 running backs of all time.

 

I love Thurman but he benefitted from being on much better teams than OJ. Thurman played in 21 playoff games. OJ played in 1.

 

OJ's playoff appearance was in 1974 against the eventual Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers. Against the vaunted Steel Curtain Defense he ran for 49 yards on 15 carries. In their next two playoff games en route to the Lombardi Trophy the Steelers gave up 29 yards rushing on 21 carries to the Oakland Raiders in the AFC Championship Game and 17 yards rushing on 21 rushes to the Minnesota Vikings in the Super Bowl. To summarize:

 

OJ Simpson                         15 carries 49 yards, 3 receptions 37 yards, 1 TD

Oakland                            21 carries 29 yards, zero offensive TDs

Minnesota                        21 carries 17 yards, zero offensive TDs

Oakland + Minnesota      42 carries 46 yards, zero offensive TDs

 

Cook is stylistically unlike OJ or Thurman but he's more similar to Thurman IMO.

 

Cook has an explosiveness more similar to OJ but he exhibits the patience and some other traits of Thurman. OJ was not a patient runner... he dictated to the defense. Cook looked like Thurman today, getting small, finding creases, waiting in holes, hiding behind blockers, and then bursting through openings.

 

I agree with everything here except perhaps the point about OJ not being a patient runner, the implication being that he wasn’t good at setting up his blocks and nothing could be further from the truth. 

[Warcodered]

5 minutes ago, Scott7975 said:

Funny thing is if the Bills win the division it is likely that we play Miami in the WC round for the second year in a row.

There's ways that lines up either way, there's also ways it lines up with whoever loses doesn't go at all.

Edited December 18, 2023 by Warcodered

[Scott7975]

[stevewin]

1 hour ago, Shaw66 said:

You're right.  That was a special performance.   And no, Thurman didn't run like that.   

 

Cook's not OJ, because OJ was a threat to do it every week.  Still, that was special. 

To me Cook was very much how Thurman ran, slipping through holes and getting more yds than you thought were there - deceptive elusiveness and toughness all in the same run.  The short steps, glide, and "giddyap" so much similar.  Then also factor in the catching out of the backfield.

 

OJ's style was another level - like a racehorse that could cut on a dime

Edited December 18, 2023 by stevewin

[VaMilBill]

17 minutes ago, zow2 said:

 

I also like Dallas at Miami.  The sidelines shots late in the game were telling. They were humiliated. Their manhood was stolen. They were pissed and i’m sure will have one helluva week of practice.  They will be out to prove they can beat a good team on the road, and Dallas is better than what they showed today, obviously.

I hate to say it, but their penalties definitely turned the game in the bills favor early. The roughing the punter, roughing the passer and the hit on Shakir. Any of those aren’t called, totally different game IMO. That’s how much impact the refs can have on a game

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

Cook reminds me of a mix between Shady and Fred  in running style. Almost like Fred how he always falls forward. A 2 yard run becomes 4 pretty fast when you are going down forward. And quickness like Shady where you aren’t even sure what you are looking at but all of a sudden the guy is somewhere else.

[Scott7975]

 

[Sierra Foothills]

4 minutes ago, VaMilBill said:

I hate to say it, but their penalties definitely turned the game in the bills favor early. The roughing the punter, roughing the passer and the hit on Shakir. Any of those aren’t called, totally different game IMO. That’s how much impact the refs can have on a game

 

I don't totally agree. Yes, there were 3 personal fouls/roughings that extended the Bills offensive drives.

 

But penalties were not the reason that Dallas couldn't generate any offense all game long.

 

And the Cowboys inability/unwillingness to stop the run was the biggest factor in the game, IMO. 

[eSJayDee]

1 hour ago, JMM said:

Then you didn't watch Thurman who was an MVP  and an incredible dual threat. OJ was strictly a runner

Actually, in '75 (the 1 yr in his tenure that we had a good/great, balanced attack) OJ caught 7 TDs & averaged like 16 yds/catch!

Edited December 18, 2023 by eSJayDee
spelling/homonym error

[newcam2012]

50 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

Are people having trouble tonight following the conversation?  OldMan said the Bills haven't had a running performance like that since OJ.  Running.  What difference does it OJ's receiving make in a conversation about Cook's running. 

 

But, if you want to have a conversation about OJ's receiving ability, he was an excellent receiver.  He was a receiver before he became a running back, and as a receiver with the Bills, he was excellent.  He wasn't targeted as often as Thurman, but his yards per reception were better than Thurman's.  His touchdown production as a receiver was better, on a percentage basis, than Thurman's  

 

Great as Thurman was, put OJ in the K-gun and the Bills might have won four Super Bowls in a row.  

OJ was a generational player. 

[Scott7975]

I didn't even notice this in game when Parsons got hurt.  NM the homer Dallas fan calling our guy dirty.  He was thrown into Parsons by Dallas own player.

 

 

[newcam2012]

21 minutes ago, Scott7975 said:

Funny thing is if the Bills win the division it is likely that we play Miami in the WC round for the second year in a row.

Would be a helluva game. I'll be happy with that.