Pimlach

The Bills had not lost by more than 6 points in 43 games, an NFL record. A bad loss was coming and this was the matchup. I agree that some fears from pre-season were on display - the WR core, the backup LBs, the young secondary. I do not like the starting safeties and we need Johnson and Bernard soon, maybe we get Milano back in December/January. The key for our defense is strong DL play, we didn't get that yesterday either. It is easy to blame the coaching but on that first TD run the LB and DB's missed their gap assignments and that cannot happen when we are outmatched against the run to begin with. We needed to be perfect in scheme and they were not. On offense there were passes dropped in the first half that killed drives (Kincaid and Coleman) and we finally saw that we lack real weapons at WR. After Shakir, there is not much there at all. No deep threat, the Ravens had 7 in the box to stop Cook/Allen runs, and if we passed they blitzed Allen from that formation. On ST there was Bass with another miss. I doubt he will finish the season with the team at this rate. The bizarre play call that resulted in a turnover changed the game, we were still in it at that point. Flush this, move on to the the Texans. We will see what kind of team we have in the next 2 weeks. We are rebuilding as we go and you could really see it last night.

So you are Thorner? Not Thornsie?

Wait .... What happened to Thorny? What's with the Joe Pesce avatar?

Sorry for your loss. I have been there too. Looks like a great dog and a true friend.

I like the team spirit and hoping this road trip helps start to form winning team chemistry, and they need to be ready for NJD and get a good start. I have my tickets for the Kings game, the home opener. I am coming in for Lindy and I hope the place is packed and VERY LOUD.

TNT is always styling. Nice hat too. Benson is looking older and with a sturdier build than last year. Bring on the Devils.

What if you already own seats in one of these corners that becomes a “stand and chant”? If they just put out a consistently good team that wins games this would not be a discussion. The fans don’t need help on how to cheer from a FO that has been inept since Pegula took over, they just need a good hockey team.

We still have to see the new Lafferty line against real NHL players and when it counts. If they are good then they force lines 3 and 2 to earn their ice. We need that.

Clinging to customs you love, my deep foray into this is that I never sold my vinyl and continually updated my sound system components over time. Now it is all “vintage” and worth much more than I paid for it. In the day this kind of equipment was “high tech”. Fortunately it’s not throw away. So I get it, and you don’t want to get outdated on the important things in the current time.

Yes it feels like a bad cycle. Add in the impact from social media. Almost any crackpot gets an audience today. A large segment of our population gets their news from social media/ internet. When I complain out loud about the direction of the country or the world today my millennial children tell me “you gotta stop watching the news on TV Dad”. That is partly funny, partly true, and mostly sad.

Someday maybe. But for now I look at who we are playing. No NHL snipers.

I believe that Dahlin was the obvious choice. He has at times played with a hate to lose attitude and he leads by example, which night after night is more effective than fiery speeches IMO. On top of that he is the best player on the team and one of the long tenured Sabres, despite his age. Tuch is another obvious pick and most agree he is A, or even C material. After that everyone else getting an A is being stretched and challenged to reach another level. Thompson is a really hard worker, another by example guy. Mature and stable, a married family man type. I am happy for him and hope he takes the load and responds by demanding more of others. I believe that the real Tage is a 40+ goal scorer, not a 29 goal scorer like last year. Samuelsson is an interesting choice, it seems like Lindy is trying to drive him into what he feels he could be. I would not call him a natural leader just yet, but he may be the type that others on the team look for to be one. It’s up to him to take it on. Cozens is the kid that I felt could evolve into a C someday, but not yet. He is that scrappy Canadian kid that will embrace and understand the tradition of the role. We saw last year that he still has some emotional growth in front of him, but he has fire and he wants it. I like rotating the A’s in this situation. Lindy is pushing the buttons on some of the key guys.

Lindy has a very limited time to install his system and with the Euro trip the Sabres have way less time to look at kids. they already know there are only about 3-4 bubble players so looking at kids is not a priority. Learning how Lindy wants to play and getting ready for back to back games versus NJ is his priority. last year they ran a extended tryout and were not ready to play when the season started. I complained about that a lot. They were terrible right from the start. I think Lindy is doing it right and given the circumstances he has no choice. This team needs a good start to the season. Time to win is right NOW.

How about relax and give Ruff a few games to evaluate his roster?

Class act. Glad to see him get a Cup.

Because they are the leaders. Cozens, should not get one, he is not yet ready for that. Someday he probably will be. TT is a very hard worker and part of my logic in giving him the letter it to inspire and reward. Tuch is a vet that has been a leader since he came here.

Dahlin C Tuch A Thompson A done.

These numbers are higher than I thought. Goalies and defenseman probably contributed to that.

Kulich is now up to 6’1” and 190 lbs. he is not small. Rosen is 6’0” and 176. Still needs a few lbs but not a Smurf.

Will he be moving up our Sabres Space prospect rankings? He is not talked about much anymore.

I know, it just reads funny. A 1:00pm home game can be an 8 to 10 hour experience for the normal fan that gets there early enough tail gate prior to the game, and even longer if you hang around and tail gate again afterwards. Die hard season ticket holders do this with a passion. The day drains me too, but for several past decades it didn't, and for most of the crowd it is an experience they savor. Football is your entire day when you go to a Sunday Bills home game. I thought they played well after a rough start. Since preseason got cut to 3 games week 1 has been rough for most teams. Cinci lost to NE, Miami squeaked by Jax, etc. Coming back from a 2 TD deficit to win is not underwhelming to me, but the Bills have been successful recently and the bar is higher than it has been for much of this teams past. This season will be challenging. They are retooling, playing without many key veterans from the past seasons, and still trying to maintain their past high level of performance. I do not see a juggernaut Bills Team, but with Allen and hopefully some other key contributors, they can still be a winning team.

That was a below average experience. I don't know why anyone would go to that restaurant. The service was slow. We really enjoyed the fabulous food though.

The injury to Taron Johnson,a second team All Pro nickelback, really hurts them. Cam Lewis settled down a lot in the second half, everybody got on board and the defense did much better in the second half. The 2 UB DBs, Lewis and J’marcus Ingram, played a lot in back up roles. Special Teams issues are way to commonplace in past few years. It’s says something about either the ST Coach or the roster strength. Allen was great, 4 TDs. #0 got the most targets and catches, including a great contested ball catch to set up a TD Lots of veteran experience is gone from this team. As with most week 1 games, there is lots to clean up. But, they won a tight game in week 1. If this team can stay healthy they might grow and get better as the season goes on. I’m on board

Don’t know. I can dream though.