Doohicksie

Time to inject some Hopium into the forum's veins. If Rich Strike can do it, so can the Sabres.

Vegas is sleeping on the Bills. They don't know (or refuse to Billieve)

I think I mentioned a while ago (before Levi was brought up for one game) that I think Kozak is done with the AHL. Sure he's the easy forward to move if you need to juggle the roster, but I think at this point he's NHL-ready. He's got the hustle and drive and for a guy just getting his first taste of regular NHL play, he seems very good at not getting bullied around; there were a few times where he got checked hard in the corner but managed to stay on his feet and come away with the puck. He is also pretty speedy. I don't expect 20 goals out of him, but I do think he has the ability to tilt the ice toward the opposing goal. I also think that when it's all said and done, Krebs will be on this team for the long term, and that he will continue improve, albeit at an incremental pace from here on out. It also seems like JJP and Kulich are starting to build some chemistry. If we could get Tage, Cozens and Tuch to consistently play with as much heart & hustle as Krebs, Kulich and Kozak, we'd have a team.

This fanbase will desperately cling onto any positive we can find.

The Sabres FO% seems to have improved significantly this year. In many games it's no longer a weakness. I know people like to bag on Krebs but he's put in the work to be an NHL regular. Not a top six guy but he's good in a bottom six role. And apparently on the power play lately? Maybe that's because he's most likely to win faceoffs and give the team possession. For the record, Tage took only one draw yesterday and lost it. Cozens was a respectable 50% on 8 draws. On the other side, Petterson was only 33%.

Kulich was 45% on the dot. Kozak and Krebs were 67% and 62% respectively. The team as a whole as 50-50 on the dot.

Holy *****!

Krebs is actually not part of the problem.

Been there, innit?

They started the 1st great. They started the 2nd asleep.

fify

I heard reports that Derrick Henry is not as effective in cold/snowy conditions.

I think they will try to confuse Mahommes on defense; a lot of coverage fakes and stuff. Make him change the play, then adjust the defense to that change. The defense is reasonably good at that; just need to turn it up to 11.

Oh, I think they will. We've seen some varying approaches on D, depending on opponent. I think they'll get to Mahommes, whether that means actually sacking him or throwing confusing coverage looks his way. McClappy coached a masterful game against Baltimore. Despite being outgained, the Bills beat the Ravens on time of possession, penalties and turnovers. I think he can do it against KC. The Bills are loose, but they're also pretty well disciplined.

But it didn't. It was pretty bad conditions, the Bills were sitting on a lead, and it was incumbent on Baltimore to make something happen. The Bills chewed up enough clock on offense and got the field goals to make it tough on the Ravens' comeback attempt. The defense bent but didn't break. Had Baltimore converted the 2 points at the end, the Bills would have had 1:33 to get to field goal range (about 40 yards) in regulation and they still had timeouts.

I also don't like calling an 8-point lead a "one score" margin. You have to make the touchdown, plus you have to score again on a 2-point conversion. In the NFL this season 69% of 2-point conversions failed. By your reckoning, with a lot of time left in the game, the 1-point conversion is the better deal. Out of curiosity, I wonder of McClappy would have attempted that first 2-point conversion in that game situation?

I think it will add into the argument about when to go for 2 and when to just kick the 1.