For starters:

Winning a football game is not about the stats at the end of the game.  It is about winning momentum throughout the game.  It is about scoring at the end of drives instead of punting or turning the ball over.  It is about forcing the other team into punting situations or turning the ball over.

In my opinion this game was lost when the Bills opted to kick that field goal on their opening drive.  I would almost never say that in a game.  But, you knew and I knew that the Bills were not going to win this one unless they got the momentum and kept it.

You don’t win the momentum by kicking a field goal.  Field goals are for games that you expect to be close or for teams who already have a comfortable lead against an opponent.  The sick thing is that Buffalo had the momentum during that opening drive.  They were running the ball exceptionally well and pounding it down the throat of the New England defense.  The momentum was building and building.  Then they decided to throw the ball to an inexperienced receiver (unfortunately there aren’t any experienced receivers to throw to) who failed to drag his feet to the sideline even though he had practiced it again and again and again since playing high school football.

Kicking that field goal at the end of that drive was accepting that you were okay with the Patriots outscoring you.  It was exactly what Dick Jauron would have done.  If you are going to take a chance on fourth down, that is the place to do it.  You don’t take that chance when it is forth and twelve when you are down 14-3.  That is when you should have kicked the field goal.

So far I pretty much like everything Chan Gailey is doing except for his play calling.  I can forgive him for kicking that original field goal when it was still zero to zero.  Most people would have also kicked there and told me that I was nuts for wanting to go for it.  I cannot accept his decision to go for it later in the first half when it was fourth and twelve from the Patriot’s 32 yard line.  Kick the field goal and make it a one score game again.  Why are you going for it there when you didn’t go for it on the opening drive?

As far as Stevie Johnson goes, he lost me as a fan.  I want someone with better hands period.  I don’t have time for this crap.  You are paid to catch the ball.  If you can’t catch, what the hell are you doing here?  You have got to be able to go over the middle, catch the ball and hang onto it.  What good is a guy who can’t be relied on to catch the ball?  This guy will cost the Bills a playoff game if the Bills ever make the playoffs ever again.  Nelson on the other hand catches every damn thing thrown his way.  The only ball be dropped was one where he took a hit that knocked him out of the game.  Nelson should be starting over Johnson.

We knew the Bills’ defense would have a hard time stopping the Patriots offense.  Brady is too damn good.  That is why momentum meant everything in this game.  Once you lose momentum and give it to the Patriots you are done.  They will cut your throat, slap you in the head and kick you in the groin when you are on the ground.  If you can’t get a pass rush on Brady you are not going to win period.  I don’t care who his receivers are.  I don’t care who they have in the back field.  Brady will beat you by himself if his offensive line does their job.  In this case Brady didn’t have to do squat.  The Patriots ran all over Buffalo as did most other teams this year.

People are going to blame this game on Ryan Fitzpatrick because of the turnovers.  Yes a large part of this is probably his fault.  He can still play for me though.  That guy gave 110% despite the outcome of that game.  Some of the mistakes he made were because he was trying to force something to make a big play.  It all went against him today.  I would rather lose a game with a guy who fights like that than lose a game because someone like Randy Moss took a play off.

Take away the turnovers and the Bills still lost this one in my opinion. Until you can stop the run, you are going to be a lousy football team.

That crappy ending to the home season sure isn’t going to help season ticket sales.  Count me in though for another year of Sunday abuse in 2011.   Eventually the odds have to come back around our way.  Don’t they?

Another thing convincing people to stay home is the price of simple things that you almost take for granted at a football game or any sporting event for that matter.   We have been bitching about beer prices for years now.  A cheap beer at the stadium is eight bucks.  You can pay more than that depending on which stand you go to and what kind of beer you want.  I think the eight dollar beer is Miller (but don’t quote me on that).

As you probably guessed by the title of this post, six dollar hotdogs, my main beef this past week was the price of a friggin hotdog.  Give me a break.  During the preseason (for kids day) the Bills sell hotdogs for a buck apiece.  During the regular season, they sell foot long dogs for six bucks.  Really!  Six bucks for a friggin hotdog? Wow how things have gotten out of whack.

At those prices it is no wonder that the lines are really (really) small for concessions.  When I started going to games twenty some years ago, the lines for beer were a mile long.  You also could not get food without a substantial wait.  People would actually pay you money to let them in line in front of you.  Now, things are different.  An awful lot of the time now, there are more workers behind the counter than there are people in line to buy concessions.

My wife and I buy a large sub from our local deli every Sunday morning before the game.  We also buy some munchies.  That stuff gets packed in a travel bag along with some beer and other adult beverages.  We typically tailgate along with some other friends and relatives before the game.  The stadium food is decent quality, but at those prices we won’t be buying too many of their concessions.

The USA team obviously lacks the offense that the Canadians and some of the other teams have.  In goal though, the USA team is really tough.  We got some absolutely outstanding goal tending from Miller.  He is making Buffalo proud. 

Team USA was outshot something like 45-22.  Still Miller refused to let the superior Canadian offense take command.

This leaves team USA in a nice position going into the medal rounds.  I am looking forward to some more outstanding American hockey.  Let’s get a few more pucks flying at the other teams’ net though.

I just hope Miller isn’t worn out when the Olympics are over.  Buffalo is in a good position to make a run deep in the playoffs this year.

Can you imagine how stupid that coach is going to look if the Jets pull out a win?  He will be the bonehead of the year.  In my opinion he already is.  There is no way he should have thrown away the opportunity to go undefeated the whole way.  This team could have rewritten NFL history.  They could have set the ultimate record.

So, as much as I want Indianapolis to win this game, I won’t be completely disappointed if they lose.  At least then the Colts’ coach will be exposed for making the bonehead call of the year.  With the way the Jets’ defense is playing, anything is possible.  This is yet another reason why a team should try to win every single game and not take anything for granted.

I thought for sure that the Jets were going to blow their opportunity to make the playoffs.  Instead they blew out the Bengals in a game that Cincinnati can only refer to as a humiliating defeat.  I personally hold a very high opinion of the Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer.  I think the guy has all the talent in the world.  He is an incredibly accurate passer.

But, these guys were not ready even for basic blitz packages that the Jets used.  The Bengals should have been able to make the Jets pay dearly for blitzing all the time.  They never did though.  Most of the time Palmer threw a bad pass.  The times when he threw a great pass, his receivers refused to catch it.  If you didn’t know better, you might think that they were trying to lose the game.  How utterly humiliating.

Well, we shall see for sure whether or not the Jets are for real when they travel to Ohio for a rematch in round one of the AFC Wild Card playoffs.  I can’t believe that the Bengals are a 3 point favorite going into this game after having been beaten like rented mules this past Sunday.  There is no way I would touch this game from a betting perspective.  It could go either way.  Right now you would have to think the Jets have an advantage.

This Bengals team was not even close to being ready to play the Jets.  Poor coaching maybe?  That is my guess.  How could you lay an egg like this heading into the playoffs?  Is Cincinnati ever going to be really good?

They say that defense wins chamionships.  This Jets team definitely has a good defense.  They could make these playoffs very interesting.

Peyton Manning never gets hurt.  Was the coach really that worried about an injury?  Come on.

How many opportunities will an NFL team really have to go totally undefeated?  If I was a Colts fan, I would be raging mad right now.  Now I am just mad because they gave an easy win to the Jets who I would have like to have seen lose.  Seeing other AFC east teams lose makes me happy.

Thanks Caldwell.  You bonehead.

This Brandon McLean kid is in serious trouble for this. What a retard this kid is. He has ruined the next god knows how many years of his life. Damn fool. All just because he got drunk and could not control himself.

Now we all have done stupid things at 19 that involved alcohol. But not running people over with a vehicle. I feel bad for the person who bought the alcohol. They are going to be in court also. They are going to be sued for personal injury right along with the McLean kid. Both the alcohol buyer and this Brandon kid are going to be in the poor house for many years to come. Can you say bankruptcy?

This will be a public announcement to people in their early twenties who party with kids that are too young to legally drink. If you buy minors alcohol, this could happen to you.

I can see all the local personal injury lawyers salivating at a chance to get a piece of this pie. You can bet that those lawyers will find some way to blame Ralph Wilson stadium for this too. They will be sued too. Did I mention I hate lawyers. Fricken vultures. Leeching off society.

I sure am glad the Bills beat the Buccaneers lat night. Otherwise this would definitely be a slow week.

I have no tolerance for this kind of crap. This is the same mentality that punks all over the city have when they spray paint buildings and signs with their less than literate punk ass poetry. Kids do this kind of crap because the consequences of getting caught are so minimal.

If you let them get away with this kind of crap when they are teenagers, what kind of crap are they going to be doing when they are twenty? Will it progress to stealing from their employer? Will they key someone’s car because that person ticked them off?

If I was the father of either of these two kids, I’d be kicking some ass and taking out an ad in the Buffalo news to make them apologize publicly for their fricken stupidity. These kids are lucky they didn’t get caught in the act. They might of got a real beating and deservedly so.

McKelvin, how can you fumble there? How? You know they are going to try to strip the ball. It is the only way they can win. How can you let them do it? Why didn’t you have two hands on the ball? Why McKelvin? Why? Why didn’t Bobby April remind him to put two hands on the ball and avoid a fumble at all costs? Just go down.

Damn it!