**Opening:** Well, all right! Looking back to last Sunday, The Ravens came into Highmark and didn’t get much of a chance to squawk. Or even chant Lenore Lamar. I’m sure nobody would have predicted that we’d face the back-up to the back-up QB on the Ravens for most of this game. Had we had seen that in our orbuculums, I imagine our guesses would’ve lined up with the final score better. However, HeresHoping, DingusDay and OldFatSlowRefs earned their way on the Wall of Winners this week. Sorry for the name change, Refs, I think the filters are censoring it causing me not to be able to post. Congratulations on this awesome accomplishment! Their guesses were each 8 total points from the winning score, no tiebreakers came into play, and all three prognostications were different. You all earned your tag this week. So, whip me with a river reed and douse me with water, but here’s hoping that no one, not even an old, large, slow ref will throw a flag and stop me from enjoying my kielbasa and pierogis next Easter Monday.
**Week 9, Bills at Vikings (MNF):** Just as everyone predicted this preseason, the NFC and AFC leaders clash on Monday Night in a battle for mid-season NFL supremacy. The best offense versus the best defense—something’s gotta give. Will Kyler Murray come up short? Will the Bills finally face a defense that can slow down the Greatest Show on Grass or will Brady’s best laid plans go _up in smoke_? Let’s all guess at the final outcome! The Vikings play indoors, so I’m not gonna even look up the weather, but if you go, you probably want to wear a hoodie underneath your Bill’s mafia fan starter pack (A Josh Allen Jersey, a Blue Light and some Zubaz) when you tailgate.
**Bills 36, Vikings 23:** Leonhard starts proving that he belongs up in the booth- for the second week he gets a better feel for when the Defense needs to attack. He leaves no mistake about his aggressive defense and gets after Murray. Somewhere, JeffisMagic cries softly to himself while rocking back and forth. This joke was written while knowing that Murray is only a coinflip on if he plays. But I gotta go for the layups when they present themselves. Groot notches another sack and is involved in another turnover for the D. Cook scores one TD on a 20-yard catch and run. Allen runs one in from the 9-yard line, and Davis gets in on the fun late in the 4th quarter. We put up 36 points on the best defense in the NFL, and people are upset that we didn’t score more.
**The Shiv: Week 9**
Buffalo travels west to the ugly city of Minneapolis for a Monday night showdown with the Vikings. This is the second of four games against the NFC North. Minnesota is a surprising 6-1 despite having a putrid offense. It’s been outweighed by having a nasty aggressive defense.
**Offense:** the blueprint has been laid on how to attack the over aggressive, maniac blitzing style that DC Brian Flores employs**. Run the ball**. Luckily for Buffalo, we are pretty good at that. This is going to be a dogfight and moving the line of scrimmage in the run game is going to be the best way to grind out a victory. **O turnovers** **and 21 points** should be a recipe for a primetime road victory.
**Defense:** **Continue what you started** in Baltimore. **Good communication**, **well timed blitzes** and **making tackles**. As of writing this we don’t know who is starting at QB. Whomever it is, this Vikings offense has been bad. Despite having premium weapons, they haven’t been able to get that plane off the ground. Let’s make sure it’s another week before they figure it out.
**Buffalo 27 Vikings 16**
Buffalo plays a solid game. Bills fans are mad when the Vikings D gets theirs but in the end Josh and Cook grind them down and finish off the game.
As always, our QB is 17x better than theirs. Go Bills
**Hype Poster:** It’s official. We’re on standard time now. And the knights get darker and longer as fall drags into winter. The City of Buffalo is depending on one man to save us from the grime and grit of years of failure. Sure, we have some great weapons now, and I like to profile them on a hype poster often, but Josh is on a mission far beyond grabbing his second MVP – and so far, we’re in great position for him to climb that NFL mountain to hoist the Lombardi.
**Closing:** Buffalo is 6-1 and in the driver’s seat for the #1 seed in the AFC. Sure, there’s a lot that can happen and nothing is guaranteed, but being where we are now at this point in the season is unfamiliar territory for us. Marv, if you are reading, there is no place I’d rather be. Let’s keep the engine purring as we look to keep making improvements this year. Good luck and **_happy prognosticating!_**
**Wall of Winners:**
Week 1: Buffal-Oblivious
Week 2: Digital Dreamer
Week 3: WilliamShatnersPants
Week 4: BonJonBovi
Week 5: Mike in Fort Myers
Week 6: BYE
Week 7: ObserverOne
Week 8: DingusDay / HeresHoping / OldFatSlowRefs