Doohickie

I'd like to see what the Bills can do to the Lions in February.

l can't blame you. Buffalo sports fandom is like being in an abusive marriage: "Honest honey, I'll be different from now on!" I'm a little more optimistic in my outlook, but I see where you're coming from. We've heard that story before though, innit?

It seems like there's been a concerted effort in recent veteran acquisitions to dispel the team's softness. If Helenius claws his way onto the team by scoring and playing with grit, it could set a new tone for the whole team.

Not necessarily. If he gives us two dominating lines instead of just one, plus some sandpaper, it could be just the tonic the team needs.

Hot take: He'll be a permanent Sabre by Christmas.

Other: Helenius.

From what little I've seen I thought, wow, it's so great to have a huge physical forward and then I looked... he's 5-11, 190? Either he's grown a lot or he plays way bigger than his size.

Quinn on the board.

Yep, I just found that out. Watching the last five minutes.

For out of market peeps, game will be on NHL Network at 2 am ET

I kind of got the feeling the Bills played down to their opponent tonight. And they still scored 31 points. Woof, what an offense.

That was fun. Not the blowout I hoped for but any win against the Fish is a good win.

McDaniels offenses are all flash and no fundamentals. McDermott's defenses are so fundamental they're boring. But the fundamentals win out every time.

The boring fundamentals of McDermott will beat McDaniels' razzle-dazzle every time* *that half the Bills don't get heatstroke on the sideline.

Such a great trash talker. Only if Miami loses 45-6. I predict the Bills will win 45-6

An apt comparison.

I bet you would.

I would like to see Lindy play his real team for the first period every preseason game. They typically focus on the bubble players instead of getting the team ready to play.

I think I have an old Simon Pure churchkey....

I read an AP article the day after the game and the focus wasn't so much how the Bills snatched victory from the jaws of defeat as it was the Raven just plain gave it away. We've seen the Bills give it away too many times. It doesn't bother me at all that they were on the other side of one of those games for a change.

Can wedding bells be far off?

Oh yeah, all the "alternate universe" scenarios are mind numbing. We should just take the W and never speak of this game again.

It worked out, but in an alternate universe where McClappy leaves the first extra point on the board and doesn't go for two, and continues to kick the PATs, the Bills would have been at 41 points without the field goal. But then the Bills would be in the opposite situation toward the end: Up by less than a field goal and in a position to kill the clock. Changes the dynamic of the game. It all worked out, but I thought that was awful game management to keep doubling down (literally) and going for the two-pointers. If they just moved on after the first unconverted 2-point attempt and kicked PATs thereafter, they would have been tied at the end and each team would be driving for a game winning FG. What happens then? I mean, we got the desired result, but if the Bills coaching staff had made "better" decisions after touchdowns they might have lost. They won by playing wrong.

TCU did something like that a couple years ago. Considering this is the first game of the season, I wouldn't be surprised if this was a drill they ran in preseason and was still relatively fresh on everyone's minds, so *they* knew what they were doing but no one else (fans, broadcasters) did. After mismanaging much of the game to that point (3 failed 2 point conversions in particular), I felt that the coaching was perfect at the end.