Buffalo Bills beat Denver Broncos 31-7

 Den-Buf: The first half of the Den-Buf game was perplexing.  Felt like Buffalo was dominating the game but only had 10 points.  I get that the Denver touchdown was a breakdown of coverage and the D played great after that.  And an aboration.  Still seeing it was only 10-7 had me wondering.  The Bills real offense showed up in the second half.  The offense were bailed out by the great touchdown catch by RB Ty Johnson on 4 and 1.  I still don't think they should have gone for that.  But really, I can't complain.  Any time the Bills rush more than they throw it is a good day.  Allen was very efficient and patient.  I love seeing that.  They also handled the strength of the Broncos, their pass rush, much by just rushing the ball 44 times and really good O-line play.  

Next week is the big test, right?  Can they beat Baltimore?  They'll play a veteran stud quarterback in Lamar Jackson.  He can make life miserable in so many ways.  And now Baltimore have Derrick Henry.  What a beast.  It should be a great game, but it'll take a great game by the Bills' defense.  It's that time of the year where the defense will have to show who they really are.  And the Ravens aren't the Broncos.  Can the defense be good enough to allow the Buffalo offense to run the ball like they want?  The Bills don't want to play from behind big deficits.  

And what a matchup. The two top MVP candidates going head-to-head.  Sure, I'd rather see an easier opponent, but this has been one of the knocks against Buffalo - not getting past top teams in the post season.  It should be a great game.  It worries me but Buffalo has shown they are good enough to beat anyone.  

Random Wax: 1991 Upper Deck Football (3 Packs)

 1991 Upper Deck: Derrick Thomas was an absolute beast, and he looks so intense on this great card.

I was always a fan of Irving Fryar.  While mostly known as a Patriot, his best years came after being traded to Miami and playing with Dan Marino.  He also did well in Philly and upon his retirement was the 8th player in league history with over 12,000 yards receiving.  

Sterling Sharpe was an amazing receiver.  He only played seven seasons due to injury, but his greatness can't be denied.

Marcus Dupree was so good in college, and I'd loved to have seen what he could have done in the NFL if he hadn't been injured in his time in the USFL.

I really like James Brooks and Jim Everett.  Brooks was an excellent rusher and could catch the ball out of the backfield.

More Team MVPs and overall greatness.

Some more great receivers including favorite Art Monk.  We'll end it with legendary defensive stud Reggie White.  Some much star power in these packs and an all-time great football set.

BREAKDOWN:

36 – Total Cards

3 – Team MVP

3 – Star Rookie

1 – Football Heroes

Deadpool & Wolverine

Deadpool & Wolverine:  Finally got to see this one and I really enjoyed it.  As did I think everyone.  It did $1.3 billion worldwide, $636 million in the US alone.  You know what you are getting in a Deadpool movie - sarcasm, profanity, LOTS of profanity, the breaking of the third wall and over the top violence.  And somehow it really works.  I've never read his comics, but I've enjoyed these movies.  Add in Wolverine and it feels like these two characters were made to play off each other even though they are opposites.  Lots of timeline stuff, Deadpool variants, heroes from the Marvel universe and a ton of great Marvel and Fox superhero references.  Felt like 90% of the other characters that show up were leaked or shown on social media within two weeks of the movie's release.  I was ready to be "meh" about this movie, but it is funny and it works.  They did a great job of making this new and fun.  There are many breakdowns of films, but I enjoy New Rockstars and you can find their look at all the details you missed in the film here.  And there is so much you'll miss, so it's fun to go back and see the goodies we didn't catch with your first watch.

 

 

Random Wax: 2023-2024 Donruss Basketball Blaster

23-24 Donruss:  Anthony Edwards and the T-Wolves are struggling this season after the trade of Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks.  It seemed like an okay trade at the time, but it has not been as KAT has really played well in New York.  Edwards is shooting a crazy 41% on 10 attempts from deep a game this season.

Not a design I care for but plenty of great players in this box.  George and Maxey are now teammates on the sinking Philly ship while Young and the Hawks have been better than expected.  Who woulda thunk?

Plenty of youngsters.  GG Jackson and Amen Thompson are good players in the league while Ausar Thompson has been solid in Detroit.

New Orleans is doing everything they can to find Brandon Ingram a new home.  Not an indictment on him as a player as much as his impending free agency.  LaMelo Ball is healthier this season and having a great year averaging 30 PPG.  

SGA is an appropriate Franchise Features and may well be the league MVP this season.  Complete Players are not much to look at.  Dame can't even save that design.  Another nice Edwards pull.

Zion is injured again, and New Orleans has to be listening to any halfway sane offers for him.

Lots of big man love.

Kawhi back?  The Clippers are another surprise team this year and I'm curious what adding him to the lineup will do for the team.  Nice LeBron pull.  Three PC guys here with Kawhi, Dame and Sabonis.

BREAKDOWN:
90 – Total Cards
7 – Rated Rookie
6 – Holo Green Laser Parallel
2 – Great X-Pectations
1 – Bomb Squad
1 – The Rookies
1 – Complete Players
1 – Franchise Features

Justice League: The New Frontier Commemorative Edition

 Justice League: The New Frontier: This was a Christmas present and a good one.  The New Frontier is set in the 50s. It focuses on the Justice League who have to deal with a threat to the world.  Before that we get some background on the characters and their relationships which isn't the cohesive team it is today.  We also see some origin stories along the way.  I enjoyed the movie.  There were some parts early in the movie I was surprised about but it was all about setting up the dynamic between the heroes.  Good movie.  For a more comprehensive look at what the Commemorative Edition comes as well as additional plot details here. DC does such a good job with their animated movies and I'll definitely pick up more.

The Other Side of the Night: The Carpathia, the Californian and the Night the Titanic Was Lost

The Other Side of Night:  This book is really good.  It details the night from the points of view of the Carpathia and the Californian, and to how their Captains, Arthur Rostron and Stanley Lord, reacted that night.  We've seen the movies and we've seen what happened from the Titanic's point of view many times in print and on the screen.  This was great as it shows us a different perspective.  Arthur Rostron and the crew of the Carpathia are widely praised for their reaction to the Titanic sinking while Stanley Lord and the crew of the California were scorned for their lack of urgency and reaction.  If you have any interest in the subject this is an easy read as you'll want to know what was happening on these other ships and what shaped their responses.  I enjoyed learning more about that as well as what happened when the ships returned to port, the investigation and to what happed in years to come.  This is done from a critical eye from an expertise of the shipping industry, where it was, how ships dealt with emergencies like this and how other ships would normally react.  There's so much taken from the actual accounts from the crew members as well as those travelling aboard the ships.  It gave insight I'd never seen before.  I highly recommend this book.  

2024 Championship Collection Football Tin

 2024 Football Tin: I didn't think I'd want one of these but when I saw what was included I was in.  We'll kick it off with a good looking Any Given Sunday insert from 2024 Prestige.  Jared Goff and the Lions are still trying to lock down the #1 seed in the NFC but they have shown they have an offense worthy of the top spot.

Despite the missing logo something about the 2024 design works for me.

You receive two 2024 Prestige packs totaling 20 cards.

You also get two packs of 2024 Score.  I love the helmet on this design.  In my opinion we need more helmets in card designs.

Plenty of options in Score for the youngsters including this nice Jayden Daniels pull on a 35th Anniversary card.  

I'm always down for Contenders so this 2023 pack is a nice inclusion for me.  You'll get a total of six packs in each tin with one of those being a fat pack.

2023 Absolute was my Assorted Panini Pack inclusion.  Only eight cards in the pack but not a bad pull.

My tin.

This is my first look at 2023 Prestige.  I'm okay with these.  I like 2024 a bit better but they are pretty similar.  And on these we still get the college logos.  2023 Prestige was my Fat Pack in the tin.

The inserts.  I like the Alma Maters concept, but the design is a bit funky for me.  I'm all for Record cards as well and this one works for me.  Living Legends is fine and anytime we can get more retired greats I'm happy.

This tin was fun.  For $30 it's basically the price of a blaster and you get a tin to keep.  No, I don't have a plan for the tin but that's okay.  There is also an Optic Edition of the tins.  I might grab another of these.  I won't chase the Optic Editions though as I'm not as big into shiny cards.

BREAKDOWN:

78 – Total Cards

2 2024 Panini Prestige Football Packs

2 2024 Panini Score Football Packs

1 2023 Panini Contenders Football Pack

1 Assorted Panini Pack (2023 Absolute)

1 Assorted Panini Fat Pack (2023 Prestige)