1. **State the problem:** Expand and simplify the expression $$(7b - 3)(2b - 1)$$. 2. **Apply the distributive property (FOIL method):** $$ (7b - 3)(2b - 1) = 7b \times 2b + 7b \times (-1) + (-3) \times 2b + (-3) \times (-1) $$ 3. **Calculate each term:** $$ 7b \times 2b = 14b^2 $$ $$ 7b \times (-1) = -7b $$ $$ (-3) \times 2b = -6b $$ $$ (-3) \times (-1) = 3 $$ 4. **Combine like terms:** $$ 14b^2 - 7b - 6b + 3 = 14b^2 - 13b + 3 $$ 5. **Final answer in the form $b^2 - __b + __$:** $$ 14b^2 - 13b + 3 $$