**AFC Divisional Round - Ravens at Bills** (+1, 51.5) 6:30 on CBS (1 Viewer)

[fred_1_15301]

Would love to see a Buffalo-Washington SB, most likely not happening

It would not surprise me in the least bit.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Would love to see a Buffalo-Washington SB, most likely not happening

I still can't believe we ran into Mark Rypien the one year that he was unstoppable.

 

[crushedspirit]

Lamar was great that last drive, but his turnovers were very costly. Ignoring Henry for a large portion of the game was criminal. Andrews needs somewhere to hide.

As for Bills, Allen is a warrior and their D played great for the most part, except for that last drive where the DC decided to apply zero pressure.

 

[jabarony]

Feel horrible for Andrews. Lamar showed that he has the ability to win in the playoffs. Bills look really good.

He did?

 

[Gjallarhorn]

Feel horrible for Andrews. Lamar showed that he has the ability to win in the playoffs. Bills look really good.

He did?

Yes

 

[Buckna]

If it makes him feel better (it won’t) Bills were def getting into fg range with 1:33

Bills offense was trucking them. Pretty obvious on their first run after the onside kick.

 

[jabarony]

Feel horrible for Andrews. Lamar showed that he has the ability to win in the playoffs. Bills look really good.

He did?

Yes

Oh. Did you mean against PIT? Yes that’s correct. My bad.

 

[Steve Tasker]

Bills offense went mega-conservative in the second half and it almost burned em. Basically took the ball out of Josh's hands. But it worked. Survive and advance.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Bills offense went mega-conservative in the second half and it almost burned em. Basically took the ball out of Josh's hands. But it worked. Survive and advance.

If we had lost, that's all anybody would be talking about for the next six months.

 

[rockaction]

Jeez. What was supposed to be game of the year and I spent the darn game reading a train wreck of an article about the Weather Underground. Just awful American history. How these people were given a pass; I could go on forever.

 

[GroveDiesel]

Feel bad for Lamar but I'd be happy to see Buffalo knock out KC and get to the SB after losing 4 straight in the 90's. Can't see them losing to either Philly or Washington

You can’t see Barkley running for like 250 yards on this defense and winning? Because I can.

 

[jabarony]

KC -1. Surprised it’s not closer to -2.5 or so.

 

[Gjallarhorn]

Jeez. What was supposed to be game of the year and I spent the darn game reading a train wreck of an article about the Weather Underground. Just awful American history. How these people were given a pass; I could go on forever.

The SDS…good times.

 

[Todem]

That Andrews fumble was such a killer.

Lamar also had two costly turnovers.

And what do Buffalo, Philly, KC and Washington have in common?

0 turnovers.

 

[Andrew74]

Oh no the Ravens lost. I’m so sad.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Should be a good game.

I think a very forgotten point (that hasn't been mentioned in here as far as I can tell) is that the Bills were missing the entire middle of the defense in the first meeting. Both starting LBs Terrel Bernard and Matt Milano (former All-Pro), and every-down nickel corner Taron Johnson (2023 2nd team All-Pro, and for my money the second best player on the entire team). All of them should be back and playing essentially every down on Sunday, unless Johnson gets occasionally subbed out for LB Dorian Williams in some 4-3 packages. The Bills backup LBs were inexperienced and got beaten badly by the Ravens the first time. That should not happen again - if it does, the Bills have no chance.

I think the Ravens are the slightly better team. But the Bills have soundly beaten both the Chiefs and the Lions this year, including the Lions game being on the road, so you know they're capable of beating teams when they're at their best. The weather in this game (8 degrees at kickoff with lower/negative wind chill) should be akin to the 2021 Wild Card game against the Patriots, which has gone down in Bills history as "Josh Allen's Perfect Game". You know he's capable of performing in this weather on a big stage.

Wouldn't surprise me if the Bills lose, since I think they're going to lose every game, but I would expect it to be close either way.

How many plays did those three guys specifically make today? They were absolutely difference-makers.

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

Would love to see a Buffalo-Washington SB, most likely not happening

That’s my dream SB

WAS making it would be such a great symbol of it being a post-Snyder era, and Snyder would probably be apoplectic about it.

BUF - yeah, what hasn’t been said about BUF.

I can’t say who I’d root for. My grandpa’s team is the team currently known as Commanders (he only knew them by their name that shall not be spoken) so is lean that way. And with a rookie QB? Shut the front door.

But this BUF team is super likable.

Tough call. I do like BUF to beat KC.

 

[rockaction]

Jeez. What was supposed to be game of the year and I spent the darn game reading a train wreck of an article about the Weather Underground. Just awful American history. How these people were given a pass; I could go on forever.

The SDS…good times.

Yeah, I’ll refrain from pro or con comments, but the sheer rapacious nature of the group and the fact that when they were caught they got what amounted to slaps on the wrist only to continue to agitate against the country just blows my mind. Takes precedence over BUF/BAL, I guess.

Lamar just can’t shake his playoff difficulties, huh? Had my eye on the game and he played well, but it wasn’t enough. Looks like he outplayed Allen in the passing game but turned it over twice. Those hurt, too. Andrews’ drop was a killer. Thought he caught it on the first angle, but then he started sliding and I was like “nope. Not today.” Try again next year, fellas.

Good season, B’More. I was pulling for you and DET because I thought you each were the class of your respective conferences. Bummer.

 

[rockaction]

Oh, and congrats to BUF! I like KC because Mahomes is my dynasty QB, but I think I’ll be pulling for a BUF/Washington SB. Let it happen and make that rain!

 

[rockaction]

Fun fact: the only NFC East team Buf hasn’t lost to in the Super Bowl? Philly.

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

I like JC

Is that JC & the Funshime Banb?

 

[Ray_T]

I think the Bills have never been as good as their record.

We know. You keep picking against them and they keep winning. You’d figure at some point you’d stop dwelling on the negatives of their team and start concentrating on the fact that they win. A lot. And only lose to tough teams. I mean, you could shift the emphasis to, “maybe I was wrong about this final eight team that procured the second seed in the conference, but they’re still not as good as Baltimore” and it would be easier to believe or take the opinion seriously at this point.

I think the Ravens are a team of destiny. I think the Bills have never been as good as their record. This feels like a blowout to me, not too dissimilar to their earlier meeting.

It is baffling to me that a team who beat the #1 seed in both conferences, both in the second half of the season is seen as not as good as their record?

Different question, had Lamar ever played in snow? Looks like single digits also.

Yeah, it’s baffling. The only team they lost to that wasn’t a playoff team was during Week 18 when they rested everybody. The lost to Houston, Baltimore, and the L.A. Rams in games they were competing for.

I don’t see how on earth travdogg holds his position, but he had Denver beating Buffalo last week, so maybe trav isn’t the guy to be getting your dope from in the end. More like Pulp Fiction than pure cut.

I said Buffalo/Denver was a tossup last week. I picked Denver because, why not? I included it in the games that I wouldn't have wanted to bet on. It was closer than the score. It was 50-50 right up until Lutz doinked before halftime, then it seemed like the wind came out of Denver's sails. You could argue that was halftime adjustments as well, but I think the young team just never recovered.

I've been effusive in my praise of the Ravens all season. I don't think I'm saying Buffalo sucks, when I say that I don't think there is much they do better than Baltimore right now. The Bills OL and pass rush are slightly better I guess, though the advantage of Henry and a better secondary mostly negates those.

I think Buffalo has the best player in the NFL (though not the 2024 MVP) I think they have a top-10 OL, a top-5 running game, and league average weapons, its the defense that worries me. The pass rush is the only thing they do well and have liabilities in both run defense and coverage. Not every team can take advantage of that (obviously, they wouldn't have won 14 games if they could) but I'd be shocked if the Ravens couldn't.

That NE game scared me on Buffalo a lot. They only won on a fluky defensive score where there was a backwards pass into the endzone.

Its very possible Buffalo is a blind spot for me, I have been lower on them then their win/loss. Its not some vendetta or something, I think most Bills fans are probably pretty worried about the back 7. This Bills team has more issues than any of the teams since 2020. Now that also speaks to having been a consistent contender over that stretch, but I don't see it as some controversial opinion. The same way, I don't think Josh Allen is playing any better this season than he has any other season since 2020. He (and they in general) has just been luckier, unlike last season, where every 50-50 bounce seemed to go against them, believe me, I was arguing Allen for MVP last season, as his high INT count was overwhelmingly fluky plays. That regressed to the mean this year, despite Allen being the same guy.

honestly both teams have been very good all year and both teams have had moments where they were not good at looking after the football.

it wasnt often on either side this year, but honestly at this level you really only need one or two mistakes to lose it. On this particular day..... Buffalo didnt turn the ball over. Baltimore did.

the teams were close enough that that was enough to make all the difference.

 

[rockaction]

I like JC

Is that JC & the Funshime Banb?

Now that had me LOL’ing.

More like JC & the Funshine Bomb

 

[The Duff Man]

It turns out that beating a 13 win team on their home turf, who beat the #1 seed in both conferences and has the best turnover differential in the league and the best player in the league is hard.

Who knew?

Glad I didn’t let my homer glasses scare me off what was an obvious bet. Absolutely cleaned up!!!!!!!!

Thanks to Vegas and the talking heads who didn’t realize the Bills are good

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

I like JC

Is that JC & the Funshime Banb?

Now that had me LOL’ing.

More like JC & the Funshine Bomb

I was laughing while posting it but I wasn’t sure if anyone else would get it. It sounded hilarious in my brain.

 

[Kevrunner]

Mark Andrews having one of the worst games you'll ever see.

That last one was Bill Buckner esque. Just glad we can't blame Lamar this time.

Andrews drop reminded me of this all time drop by a TE in a big game.

Andrews Joins This Guy

 

[jerry jones]

Mark Andrews having one of the worst games you'll ever see.

That last one was Bill Buckner esque. Just glad we can't blame Lamar this time.

Andrews drop reminded me of this all time drop by a TE in a big game.

Andrews Joins This Guy

Yup, I said that to my buddy right after the play

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Mark Andrews having one of the worst games you'll ever see.

That last one was Bill Buckner esque. Just glad we can't blame Lamar this time.

Andrews drop reminded me of this all time drop by a TE in a big game.

Andrews Joins This Guy

Yup, I said that to my buddy right after the play

What my mind went to immediately.

 

[ProstheticRGK]

Thank goodness these silly games are over and we can get to the new hollywood squares

Oh $#!&, what channel? They must have brought back Shadow Stevens though right?

Pail Lynde’s exhumed corpse. Condolences to his family.

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

Well, Kincaid’s ghost only had 1 catch. The last Allen TD & the Likely TD allowed the two teams behind me to pass me.

Got bounced from my guillotine by 1.x points.

One more catch woulda done it. Unreal.

 

[rockaction]

Now that had me LOL’ing.

More like JC & the Funshine Bomb

In all seriousness, I tracked down an article about a guy named John Jacobs in Vancouver Magazine. Jacobs led the Columbia University riots in ’68 (famous for their property damage and violence) and then went on to more radical and militant (terroristic, I’d call it) organizing. He moved from the SDS (radical enough) and started an even more radical, revolutionary group with a guy named Mark Rudd called the Weathermen. They preached armed and active revolution in the U.S., largely bridging the gap from peaceful protest to violent resistance (terrorism).

He’s the mind behind the “Days of Rage” in 1968/9 (I forget which). So anyway, after the Weathermen famously bombed their own building on accident (they were building a bomb to bomb a military dance) and some of their friends (and comrades) died, he goes to California where they convene a meeting of the Weathermen. This has obviously shaken a few of them. He’s kicked out and they say that their “militancy” was a mistake and that they’ll be the Weather Underground from now on because it’s less sexist (of course—I don’t know how that slipped through in the first place). So now he’s kicked out, laments life, and goes on the lam to Canada and Vancouver where he spends the rest of his life (he dies in ’97, more on that in a bit) with one woman and then his life partner, all the while having a total penchant for cocaine and whiskey.

So he gets melanoma in ’96 or so and it spreads to his brain and his lungs and all over, you know? And one day he’s so sick that his wife calls the police to come and assist him. He’s awfully close to death. But see, Jacobs has never renounced his ideology. He’s still the same. He hates authority and especially cops. But they come at his wife’s behest, and while he’s making this great effort to even walk at this point, one of the female cops gently touches him and says “You’re doing all right.” Upon feeling her touch him (I am not making this up) and feeling pain because he’s so sick that he’s sensitive to touch, he turns around and slugs her and starts beating up all the cops. It takes an hour (yes, an hour) to sedate him. And when they finally do, he dies the next day. His wife is quoted in the article as saying that she told the police not to touch him (as if that . . . well, you don’t need me to editorialize that).

Unbelievable. In one of his unsent letters he’s quoted as saying that he was just looking for friends and companionship and that he thought if we modeled our political systems and beliefs a certain way, that true friendship and comradeship would happen for him. But wait, there’s more. The family and friends of Jacobs (and former colleagues) decide that he needs to have his ashes spread on Che Guevara’s grave in Cuba. The Cuban government, led by Fidel Castro, of course assents to this and John Jacobs—murderer, terrorist, conspirator, accused cop killer and definite cop assaulter—has his ashes spread next to Che’s with a placard memorializing his struggle in the United States.

This is the only time you’ll ever hear me say this. Rest In Power, ****er, because I wish you no peace in hell.

 

[dutch]

the fleck?!?

 

[dutch]

Yo rock, get off the rock!

 

[rockaction]

Yo rock, get off the rock!

Oh man, you’re concerned that I used the wrong tense when I said “preach,” aren’t you? It should be “preached," dutch. Should be “preached."

In all seriousness, look upthread. I was talking about how I only had one eye on the game because I was reading about SDS and the Weathermen. Why was I doing that? Because in the rental movie thread we were talking about Boomers and the Silent Generation and where the sixties radicals came from. (It was both.)

So it’s at least-board relevant even if you never expected to be in a Buffalo thread reading about John Jacobs, former leader of the Weather Underground.

 

[Neil Beaufort Zod]

If it makes him feel better (it won’t) Bills were def getting into fg range with 1:33

Yep. Brutal ending for the Ravens, but even if Andrews gets the 2 pts, the Bills have a great chance to get a FG, and even if they don't get that, there's OT. There was a lot of football left to be played potentially.

True, but Baltimore had a TO left. One incomplete pass by Buffalo and they'd be in position to get the ball back themselves with a chance to win in regulation. Two incomplete passes and there would be a lot of time left on the clock.

Yes, a lot of football left. Buffalo could have scored at the end and the drop wouldn't matter. I really feel for the guy. It's a team game, but his fumble and drop sure look like "why they lost." Now I'll be low-key rooting for Andrews to have some major success later in his career.

 

[Harry Frogfish]

It turns out that beating a 13 win team on their home turf, who beat the #1 seed in both conferences and has the best turnover differential in the league and the best player in the league is hard.

Who knew?

Glad I didn’t let my homer glasses scare me off what was an obvious bet. Absolutely cleaned up!!!!!!!!

Thanks to Vegas and the talking heads who didn’t realize the Bills are good

Nice work old friend but I wouldn't really be boasting about it, Darryn. In the end you won, which is all that matters, but that was far from some brilliant call. Kind of the opposite actually. Which happened more than once this weekend . . . a will again.

The back-patting is indeed quite funny.


What's your calls next week?

 

[Neil Beaufort Zod]

It turns out that beating a 13 win team on their home turf, who beat the #1 seed in both conferences and has the best turnover differential in the league and the best player in the league is hard.

Who knew?

Glad I didn’t let my homer glasses scare me off what was an obvious bet. Absolutely cleaned up!!!!!!!!

Thanks to Vegas and the talking heads who didn’t realize the Bills are good

Nice work old friend but I wouldn't really be boasting about it, Darryn. In the end you won, which is all that matters, but that was far from some brilliant call. Kind of the opposite actually. Which happened more than once this weekend . . . a will again.

The back-patting is indeed quite funny.


What's your calls next week?

We always hear when people clean up, but never when they're cleaned out. With all the cleaning up, it's a wonder Vegas has all those nice buildings.