Randall Flagg

McBeane and their staff, to this very moment, have been more successful at the impossibly large task of bringing together all of the facets of an NFL football organization relative to other organizations in the league, than Botterill and Housley/Krueger and whoever else completes their front office, relative to other NHL franchises. If you made a pro/con list of each, it'd be clear that one has done a better job than the other, and so a turnaround has happened quicker. The nature of the two leagues is also wildly different as others have elaborated on, so it's not a fair comparison. It'd be easier to compare the Sabres to the Oilers, Coyotes, Devils, Islanders, Avalanche, Leafs. This doesn't mean that the Sabres can't be on the cusp of righting the ship, or in the process of it - they're right there with everyone else in the east, and control their own destiny as far as what happens to them in April and beyond.

"thanking jesus after something good happens to your football team" and the more common refrain of "i can't believe people can think god chooses sides in sports" both fundamentally miss why people tend towards thanking a higher power when something good happens to them, even in something silly like a football game. It doesn't correctly portray what McDermott is feeling and thinking in that moment when he is doing that, or even come close to doing so McDermott, and other religious people, certainly don't believe that god made them win a game or succeed on a play I don't purport to have the words or capability to adequately express what is going on, I've only recently been humbled to the point of understanding that I was faulty in possessing the same sentiment

From Shaw66's weekly Rockpile Review on Two Bills Drive: "Having said that, McDermott’s conservative, game-winning approach can be nerve-wracking. The final minutes of the Steelers game were anything but comfortable; taking a knee while a couple of minutes run off the clock is a much more civilized way to end a game. A really well prepared team wouldn’t give the Steelers a free timeout with a needless penalty; leaving the Steelers with more than a minute and half, instead of less than a minute, put the game at risk one more time. McDermott’s approach is driven by where Allen is in his development as an NFL quarterback. Allen is a cannon, and I don’t mean just his arm – he has the throwing, running and leadership ability to blow up defenses. How do we know that? He is tied with Russell Wilson for the league lead this season with the most game-winning drives (5) and most comeback wins (4). But he’s young and learning, so he’s a loose cannon. McDermott has seen his cannon blow up in his face (like against the Patriots) instead of blowing up the defense. So what does McDermott do? He doesn’t risk things blowing up in his face unless he has too. He plays for the win, not for the highlights. McDermott lets Allen practice managing the game, practice making the throws he needs to make without putting the team at risk. Allen gets to practice in the first half. As soon as the Bills get the lead in the second half, practice time is over and McDermott is playing to win the game. Winning the game means don’t give your young quarterback a chance to blow up. As Allen develops into a more reliable weapon, I think we’ll see McDermott open up and go for the jugular." https://www.twobillsdrive.com/community/topic/221466-the-rockpile-review-december-football/

Finally my boy Brett does a Bills video

Stay well, Mojo.

Eh. I was one of those guys, and I now admit it was reeeeeally annoying, and really cringe.

Oh

The Steelers were the scariest defense on the schedule to me. NE is brilliant scheming and rock solid fundamentals - Pittsbrugh's DEFENSE can score a TD themselves any give play. Most sacks and takeaways, pro bowl talentS at every level. ' Playing baltimore, pitt, ne in a row is gonna make houston's D look like a HS team.

Watching the full postgame show for the first time since...2012?

Dahlin was perrrrrty good

@PASabreFan, did you have tickets to this previously, or did you purchase them when you saw the Aud setup?

At some point Skinner's gonna get hot again too, and Mojo will get back to producing.

Nice interview from Rasssssmus

Excellent. First, Victor was a PP specialist. Not harmful, but completely invisible, at even strength. It reflected in his line's performance at even strength, as they lagged behind their opponents in goal scoring for the first month or so. Then he started to figure it out a bit - you saw the well-timed hip pivots that let him shield the puck in a way that, instead of giving in to the boards and losing it, any force would propel him in the direction of the puck, and he would push off of his opponents that way, knowing he can't overpower them. He started to get close to some goals, but nothing clicked. Now, he's making plays like that. He's a no-BS top 6 NHLer right now, almost at a point per game, and is getting better every night. It's been a long time since we've drafted a player and grown them into something like this. Sam quietly doing his thing. I'm pretty sure we had all 21 possible combinations of defense pairings out there tonight, it was pretty wild, and seamless too. They were literally all excellent, with Risto leading the pack. The game had a different feel early than it did late - it felt like no matter what Nashville was going to win, until it slowly felt like no matter what we are going to win. I credit the initial shift in our direction to Larsson, Kyle, and Zemgus. EXCELLENT shifts in the first and second set up goals on the following ones. Eichel is ridiculous and we are very lucky to be watching this. I pray to the hockey gods that we can stay healthy. We deserve to have some fun

Nice job by Kyle and Larry to get that offensive zone faceoff. Appreciate the refs today - they're letting them play and not calling ticky tack stuff that they could/sometimes do, and the teams know right where that line is tonight. It's made for a clean, fluid, fun game

One more to seal the deal, come on!!!

He's averaging like 90 feet per assist

Filthy hands

I was so momentarily distressed that he missed that first open net

YESSSSSSS GOALOFSSON

Okay when the opponent refused to touch it after their high stick in our zone, and we did, the face off was in our zone. No Sabre should have touched that puck, we would have gotten an offensive zone faceoff.

And he's doing it against goalies that don't look like it's the first time they've ever experienced ice before, too :)

Won that period. Let's win one more.

Damn. Great shift by the Preds

Lit. Feel a little better than I did in the first. They're all playing so damn smart. Scandella with his typical point move, only instead of shooting into shin pads, he stays patient and keeps the play alive. Beautiful save by Ullmark. Nashville has been trying to get behind us like that all night