That Aud Smell

I'd counter by suggesting that, of late, he's been completely absent. (For perhaps obvious and good reason.)

I am fine with any course of action, including a complete tear down. There's not a single player on this roster that I feel should absolutely not be traded. They have skidded into being one of my least favourite Sabre teams ever.

This is an interesting take/idea. Are there linkelages you can provide? Just off the cuff, the Chiefs' ability to solve zone schemes would make sense given the effing mind meld genius that Mahomes and Kelce share. 87 just knows where to go and sit down to get a catch. I've watched/heard him interviewed about his craft. He may play the role of the goofy, carefree bro, but that guy is a fu*king tactician and clinician when it comes to zone beaters.

Given how obviously limited he was when he did punt, I inferred that his crucial role as the kick holder was what caused the coaching staff to roll the dice with him. Those three players - the long snapper, holder, and kicker - develop such a crucial chemistry during the season that I can see McDermott reasonably taking the gamble. Ironically, it was Bass who nonetheless failed to deliver on a critical kick.

Deadspin has mostly had its bones picked clean by private equity, but there is at least one "After Dark" transcript out there on teh interwebs. It appears that it was a free for all of sorts, with staff writers and "members" (readers? trolls?) just keeping a chat going in the wee hours. https://deadspin.com/monday-night-football-after-dark-broncos-raiders-5047058

I believe that the "after dark" thing arose from the sports blogging world that pre-dated sports on Twitter and other forms of social media. I specifically recall Deadspin - back when it was authentic and interesting (and even trend setting) - having an "After Dark" live blog feature where some staff writers would live blog whatever was going on in the (sports) world and then dedicated readers would follow along and sound off in the ... comments? I'm not even sure how that worked, tbh. I did not participate. I was a bit older than the target demographic. I had young kids. I was trying to sleep. Anyway, "after dark" just became shorthand for "yo, we all up mad late (for sportz)" sort of thing.

Maybe not the first -- but certainly right at the front of the line. I appreciate the positive take and statement of hope.

Did you hear his post-game press conference? He was counting on the element of surprise. (Apparently he's still on his 9/11 sh1t.) *flees room*

I was at the game, so I didn't hear what they said. In theory, I guess it's not an unreasonable call -- to fake it in that situation. It would have made some sense to conclude: The D can't stop the Chiefs tonight. If we punt here, the game's effectively over. The play call just looked horrendous in every way imaginable. I have doubts/reservations about how Hamlin plays after coming back from the dead (totally understandable if he were a tick slower than he used to be!). I guess I wish they had a better looking fake punt call in the bag.

There's gutsy and then there's being foolhardy. A fake run from your own ~30 on 4th and 5 is foolhardy, imo. The play looked awful from the hop -- slow, plodding, equivocal. Hard to say which was worse -- the call or the execution.

One of the beat reporters from TBN stated that the Bills were unaware that the Chiefs had 10 players on the field when they called it in from the sideline.

Hat tip to our fearless leader @SDS. Other than the National Weather Service (lol - I'm such a funking nerd), this board is my favourite place on the internet. And thanks for the mention, @inkman. I enjoy so many posters here, including you. I especially enjoy when posters have a distinct "voice." There are many who manage that. Including inky, yes. @PASabreFan as well. Many others. Whither @Eleven? e-RIP @X. Benedict.

Bro - the fake punt. That's McDermott in a nutshell. Coaches a solid game, and then barfs on himself at a crucial juncture. The fact that that call didn't lose the game was a stroke of good fortune for him.

Interesting thought experiment. Maybe. OTOH, I feel like we know what tends to come from an invitation to losing. More losing. My enjoyment of my favourite sports teams isn't pinned on titles. I'm in it to enjoy the ride. What the Bills did late in the season was fun. The playoffs were fun as well, albeit very disappointing last night. From my perch in the 300s, I really and truly thought that the Bills were going to get their go-ahead touchdown and then we'd all be sh1tting ourselves as Mahomes took the field with however much time he'd have been left. Oh well.

The same Bill whose Patriots got absolutely toasted in the wildcard cold game in Buffalo? Nah.

No idea whose blog this is, but I'm encouraged by this breakdown of the 2024 WR class. 2. Wide Receiver Top-10 Grades: 2 Top-50 Grades: 9 Top-100 Grades: 13 Heading into the season I thought the 2024 class of receivers would be better than the 2023 class, but this year’s group has become a different animal altogether. We could legitimately see this class challenge the record for most receivers taken in the first round (seven, in 2004). Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr., LSU’s Malik Nabers, Florida State’s Keon Coleman, and Washington’s Rome Odunze are all stone-cold locks at this point. LSU’s Brian Thomas Jr., Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka and South Carolina’s Xavier Legette, along with the Texas duo of Xavier Worthy and Adonai Mitchell, all have a shot of hearing their name called on the first day of the draft as well. Unlike a year ago, there’s no shortage of different body types and skillsets at the position either. I’d categorize the top options in the class is as follows: X-Receivers (Big-Bodied No. 1’s) Marvin Harrison Jr, Ohio State Keon Coleman, Florida State Rome Odunze, Washington Xavier Legette, South Carolina Adonai Mitchell, Texas Vertical Threats (Movable Speedsters) Malik Nabers, LSU Brian Thomas Jr., LSU Xavier Worthy, Texas Ladd McConkey, Georgia Troy Franklin, Oregon Y-Receivers (Savvy No. 2’s) Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State Ja’Lynn Polk, Washington Roman Wilson, Michigan The one position where there’s, arguably, few if any high-end options is pure slot receivers like we saw a year ago. I’m sure NFL teams won’t be complaining about that given the preponderance of talent elsewhere. https://themessenger.com/sports/2024-nfl-draft-strongest-weakest-position-groups *Edited to remove spam post of Twitter profile. The above was written by a guy named Mike Renner.

This is the team's #1 need. Full stop. Diggs is probably at a point where he's not a true #1. He can still be very good. But he needs help. Hopefully that help comes in the form of a drafted, cost-controlled WR who's got good size and then one additional elite attribute -- be it hands, contested catch ability, speed, catch radius, zone beating smarts, etc.

These two Tweets encapsulate and confirm what I felt about that failed throw to Shakir. Good call, great opportunity -- they just missed it. Chris Jones pushing the Bills guard into Allen's feet played a role. That throw was fu*king spectacular, especially given the conditions and circumstances. It's a low percentage play in the abstract, but not so low when you have 17 throwing a fu*king 65 yard laser beam in a cold breeze. And, Jesus Christ on a popsicle stick, he put it right on him. 14 just could not bring it in. I know that's a tough play for the WR. But FFS.

perhaps i was unclear. I meant power play production (goals) is the difference between last season and this season.

I somewhat recently heard Granato say that the principal difference between this year's team and last year's team is the power play. That the even strength goals are about the same. Is this true? It's incredible to me that there's been no change with the assistant coach who's responsible for the power play.

Yeah - I saw that as well. It's one of this team's main storylines. They can be defensively good, good, good, good, good, HORRENDOUS, good, good ... and so on. Just huge lapses.

This is a thing. The Sabres are easy to play against. They tend to do pretty well when they play against teams that are similarly constituted. And they tend to get trucked when they play against teams that are hard to play against. By the way. Being hard to play against doesn't mean that you're a team full of natural born thumpers. It's more a mindset and approach to the game.

I tuned in a little late and wasn’t immediately aware that they didn’t have Bedard in the lineup. As I watched, it steadily dawned on me: The Blackhawks look every bit the part of an AHL team. I mean woof. There were times when Sabre players were carrying the puck and wound up looking like a star from the 80s Oilers. Several Blackhawk players were just pylons out there.

On some level, I do. I mean I understand where it comes from. There are certainly things to point to, to cite as evidence that #BillsMafia is dumb, hypocritical, lame, etc. But I think all of that's misplaced, wasted energy. And I agree that it's way more fun to put your arms around #BillsMafia and promote it as a slogan (metaphysical repository?) for everything that's good about being linked by Bills fandom. There's a choice to be made, as there usually is. Go Bills. and it ain't all good, btw. there's plenty that's not so great to downright awful. but that's the human experience, innit? and there's a choice to be made on where one's focus will settle.

let's go, buffalo.