Truth Be Told…
Hey all,
Regular readers know the rule my Missus has – no disclosing when I am out of town.
So I’ve been in Grand Rapids, Michigan for the past three days. I’m in what is probably the nicest hotel I have ever been in, which is obviously surprising considering I am in Grand Rapids. And I’ve done my fair share of traveling.
They have a good sports bar, so I saw the second period on of the Bruins game. Ugh.
Sorry I haven’t checked in, but I’m here on business, so blogging would have been tough. More to come tomorrow, but in the meantime, I’m just looking forward to the fact the Bills have a meaningful game this weekend.
Consider this an open thread for the Bills hopes, and the Sabres frustrations.
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bad enough I live amongst all these Patriots fans (cheaters!) – now the Bruins stiffle the sabres and I have to hear about that. I’m glad the baseball season is over and I’m not much of an NBA person.
Soooooooooooo… didn’t you just break your rule and disclose that you are out of town?
Just checking….
I stayed at a great hotel in downtown Grand Rapids about 4 or 5 years ago. I forget the name of it, but I bet you’re at the same one. G.R. is a neat little town.
I prefer to not talk about the Sabres right now. The only thing I want to mention is that did anyone out there think that in less than two weeks before Christmas the Bills would have a winning record and the Sabres wouldn’t?!? Exactly what I was thinking…
Anyone catch the new Marshawn comic they play at the stadium? It’s pretty sweet.
http://www.buffalobills.com/blog/index.jsp?post_id=2589
In honor of Beast Mode, I’ve updated the Money shirt to well not be a Money shirt and added more (some cheaper!) products including women’s styles.
http://twoeightnine.spreadshirt.com/us/US/Shop/Index/design/design/Beast-Mode—Marshawn-Lynch–2446396
That’s awesome, 289.
I’m guessing the Amway Grand — right next to the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum.
Of course you narrowed it down by saying “nice” and “Grand Rapids” in the same sentence…
If you go back in the summer there is a nice restaurant on a lake somewhere in town — again, that will narrow things down a bit…
So Fairchild’s leaving.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3151605
Help me out, everyone. Does this mean he’s resigning immediately to get started on recruiting or does he finish out the year with the Bills?
Now would suit me fine.
Does it really matter? I think I could replicate his play-calling abilities.
289
all you have to do is a call a screen every 3rd play, and only throw downfield twice a game.
Exactly. And the first play of each drive will be a run up the middle.
nice shirts btw, 289, definitely will be ordering some for hte holidays.
Also a big part of the Fairchild playbook ==> run until you get stuffed and THEN try play action… instead of the right way to do it, play action after successful running play or 2.
Good riddance Steve. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
If the Bills win out, they’re in the playoffs. I know that’s unlikely, but it’s a great thing to be able to say with three games left. It’s pretty nice to have your fate in your own hands, even if it’s a tough climb.
Wolf, I was close enough to being home that I wasn’t too worried.
And yes, I was at the Amway Grand
Dave, the Bills actually need a little help beyond winning out. They would lose the tie-breaker in a 3-way tie with Cleveland and Tennessee. So, the Titans would need to lose one game, or the Browns would need to lose an additional game beyond the Buffalo game. Provided they win out, Buffalo would have the head-to-head tiebreaker against either, but not in a three-way. Welcome to the convoluted world of NFL tie-breakers.
Dave S . . . ya gotta have faith man! We’ve proven we can beat anybody (besides the Pats) in the NFL this year. Sure we had a couple of mishaps and bumps in the road, but I A) have confidence in our coaching this year and B) completely believe we can beat the Browns. Let’s not look ahead to the Eagles and Giants quite yet, but let me just say we can totally win out. LET’S GO BUFFALO, MAKE THAT PLAYOFF RUN BABY!!!
I checked out the remaining schedules of the Browns and Titans respectively after checking out with Seth had to say. The Titans still have the Colts left on the last game of the season so that might help us out (assuming they’re not hibernating before the playoffs) and they have the Chiefs this weekend. Granted the Chiefs suck some ass this year, this has potential for the Titan’s shitting the bed. As for the Browns, the rest of their schedule is rather cup-cake. They play the disappointing Bengals after us and the ‘Niner’s the week after. Hey you never know, maybe both teams will falter and we won’t have to worry about a tie breaker . . . or we will, either way I’m excited.
“Dave, the Bills actually need a little help beyond winning out. They would lose the tie-breaker in a 3-way tie with Cleveland and Tennessee.”
You sure about that? If we win out, that means we beat the Browns. First tiebreaker is head-to-head.
Tennessee I may have goofed on. We’ll be tied on conference record. What the next tiebreaker?
D’oh! It’s right in the Buffalo News. I should have checked that first:
“If the Bills and the Titans finish with the same record and ahead of the Browns, the first tiebreaker is conference record. If the Titans and Bills win out, they both would be 7-5 in the conference. The next tiebreaker is record against common opponents. The Bills would win that tiebreaker.”
So, yes, the Bills are in if they win out. Pretty cool, huh?
I’m leading the charge for AVP for OC.
Dave S,
It’s complicated though. They were saying on the radio that the common opponent tie breaker had to be at least four common opponents and the Bills/Titans didn’t have that so it went to the next tiebreaker.
But then on the radio this morning they said in a Bills v Titans 10-6 tie the Bills would win. I don’t know if that’s because the four-common games was wrong, or if we have four-common games with Tennessee and win, or if it comes to the next tiebreaker and we win that.
I like AVP and all, but isn’t that a big jump from where he’s at? I mean, he should have some QB coaching experience or something first… should he?
For the record his current position is “Offensive Quality Control Coach” lol
How the hell are we favored to lose by 6?
We are just good/bad as the Browns. Home field isn’t 6 points.
I know we have only beaten crappy teams so far, but Cleveland is a crappy team. They haven’t beaten anyone good either.
*Please don’t consider this to be or use this as wagering advice.
If Buffalo and Cleveland both finish 10-6, Buffalo has the tie-breaker. If Buffalo and Tennessee finish 10-6, Buffalo has the tie-breaker. If all three teams finish 10-6, Buffalo does not have the tie-breaker. In the three-way scenario, it goes all the way down to the 5th tie-breaker- strength of schedule. Thanks to 4 games against the Dolphins and Jets, the Bills are the first team out of that 3-way. It’s strange that they would have the head-to-head against either, and lose the three-way, but that is the case, hence the reason I wrote Buffalo needs help- because they do.
Chris Brown has the scenario breakdown on the bills website:
http://www.buffalobills.com/blog/index.jsp?post_id=2585
The playoff tiebreakers are so confusing but what I’ve figure out is that we’re in if we win out. If it ends in a three way tie the fact that we beat the Browns eliminates them and the tiebreaker uses the two-team scenario instead of the three team scenario. (Which I find strange, they actually start with the three team but as soon as it eliminates a team they ditch it and start over with the two team.) We hold the trump card over the Titans in that case but wouldn’t if it was a three way tie where we didn’t play the Browns.
Seth, there’s a chance Brown is wrong. The NFL said it played out how I explained it. Brown was banking on them using the three way tie scenario throughout the whole process. They only use that until it eliminates someone.
I don’t think so 289. The wording is “If two clubs remain tied after third or other clubs are eliminated during any step, tie breaker reverts to step 1 of the two-club format”
The “remain tied” thing is the big deal there- The Bills and Titans won’t remain tied, the Titans will be higher. Therefore, just because Buffalo is higher than Cleveland doesn’t send it back to the two team scenario. Tennessee wins it by being higher than either.
http://www.49erswebzone.com/nfltiebreaker.shtml
Exactly. They’re still tied though. They have the same record. Buffalo beating Cleveland eliminates them. The slate is wiped clean and then the two club format is used.
If the Bills, Titans, and Browns all finish 10-6, The Titans WILL make the playoffs. End of story.
From the Buffalo News (right below the portion you pulled Dave):
“If the teams finish in a three-way tie, the tiebreaker could come down to strength of victory [record of teams they beat]. The Bills stand third in that scenario.”
http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/story/227191.html
The radio reported this morning that the NFL informed them the Bills win that three-way tie scenario.
Fuck it. Go alphabetical.
OK, I get it now. If you have a three-way tie, you can’t use head-to-head, because what if A beat B, B beat C, and C beat A.
So, Tennessee needs to lose a game for sure.
That can’t be the logic 289, because if it was, then how is Cleveland eliminated in the first place? They would only remain tied if Buff. and Tenn. had the same strength of schedule, which would send it to the two team scenario.
But they don’t, and Tennessee wins the three-way tie-breaker outright.
This is fun, but will be moot if the Bills fail to win on Sunday.
Alphabetical works… or a Tennessee loss, or another Cleveland loss…
I’m with twoeightnine. Fuck it. My head hurts.
Hopefully we can still be confused by this after Sunday. But damn, wouldn’t it suck if the game ended with a pass going off a Bills running back’s fingertips in the end zone.
That’s actually what I thought in the first place. I didn’t think it made sense that they use the 3 team until it eliminates a team then they start all over with the 2 team. But then I read this:
(Note: If two clubs remain tied after third or other clubs are eliminated, tie breaker reverts to step 1 of applicable two-club format.)
I’m reading that as, as soon as a team is eliminated then it reverts to the two-club format. Who knows though.
Sack-races on consecutive Sundays…
I’d say “rock, paper, scissors”, but the Titans and Browns are probably hip to Fairchild’s first three throws always being “paper”, “paper”, and then that lame “dynamite” move.
“Sack-races on consecutive Sundays… ”
Don’t count on Schoebel this year.
the Browns signed Brad Cieslak to their practice squad today. how much of a preparation advantage is this going to give them? he was released from Buffalo recently, so clearly he’s privy to a ton of information. this could spell trouble. very sneaky — you can tell Crennel is a disciple of Bellicheck….
He had only been on the team for three weeks so I’m not too worried.
“How the hell are we favored to lose by 6? We are just good/bad as the Browns. Home field isn’t 6 points.”
The Browns have a better record than us, play in a better division, and are 5-1 at home. Six points may be a little low.
Dave S,
Also, this is the Bills we’re talking about, not a regular football club.
crennel: cieslak, tell me all you know about the bills offense.
Cieslak: i played tight end, i was not actually part of the bills offense.
crennel: DO YOU HAVE A TOUCHDOWN DANCE??
Safe to say he will never get a job in the NFL again after he is released Monday.