spartacus

until they do they you be will shocked they left but Toronto isn't that far - you can probably still pretend they are Buffalo's regional team

Until the Bills can stop the run consistently, they do not have a playoff caliber defense - no matter the stats showed last year. they could not stop the run last year and did nothing to improve in the off-season. their LBs are still undersized. their DTs and DEs are still undersized Their DL added an even smaller DE to the mix - who won't see the field much if they don't stop the run on 1st and 2nd downs to force long yardage passing situations. If Stroud goes down for an extended period, it will not be pretty.

unless Ralph dies, even if the Bills go winless and get the first pick, Dick will be back because he has years left on his contract. Dick is here for the duration. You should read this wall more -- Langston Walker is really good and will be much better at LT than Peters

If our true goal is to be a .500 team, then this front office is on the right track. Ten years in the non-playoff wilderness with no incentive or objective to rise to anything more than .500 as you state, they have done a fine job of bringing in marginal backup players what they really need to add to become a contender are a bunch of game changing playmakers. TO used to be that - but at 36 it remains to be seen if he still has it. Maybin has a quick first step - let's hope that translates to sacks and pressures in 2009. "It is hard to win in the NFL"

it is really amazing how a DE can run with the same speed as a defensive back or LB but I guess that's what you get when Maybin played at 225 lb Fewell will have to specifically scheme to exploit whatever speed Maybin maintains at a higher weight - while hiding him from getting pancaked on running plays

The spirit of Stew Barber lives on at OBD. It's management against the players - and we play to win!! no wonder Dick thinks "it's hard to win in the NFL" when your front office is confused as to who the opponent is.

Walker could be a serviceable RT - IF he lost about 50 lbs. Now he is just fat and slow but the best we have at the moment,. would not surprise me if Bell ends up at LT sooner rather than later after Walker tanks there against all of the speed rushers he will face this year.

absolutely agree no way the Fins go from last to first in 2009. (that 1st place finish in 2008 is problematic) However, they will probably beat the Bills twice and finish ahead of them in the AFC East

all of your receivers can be deep threats - but if OL can not give the QB time, the receivers are just fast decoys. Teams will test the rookies in the middle and will exploit Walker at LT. Highly unlikely the bills will be able to exploit teams deep until this OL gains some experience (and a better LT) maybe Bell won't embarrass himself

if Bell is good enough to start. Butler will not be on the bench. Bills will look to trade Walker and move his salary and may cut him outright just to save the money.

1. "The Bills tried to negotiate with Peters last off-season" - This is an outright falsehood now that Brandon has gone on record saying they told Peters early in 2008 that they would not be extending him in 2008 with 3 years left on his deal. Peters is not without fault in how he handled the situation, but the Bills bungled this from the beginning. Instead of working out a compromise with their best player, they opted to play hardball and it did not work out well for the team. They got an unhappy and underperforming Peters in 2008 and moved him with no nobody close to his talent to replace him in 2009. 2. "Dockery" The Bills got nothing for a player they evaluated to be good enough to justify a $50 million contract just 2 years ago. Fine if they want to move the guy, but it seems they made that decision 2 days before the bonus day and could not do a deal. why not plan earlier or eat the bonus and continue to look for a trade partner?? You trust the guys that signed Dockery and all of the other crappy free agent OL to wake up and suddenly be able to identify a good OL. Hopefully the guys can play, but as rookies it may take time. 3. Whether it's Chambers, Bell or Walker at LT - unlike in 2008, the Bills will need to dedicate a TE and RB to the left side on all pass plays longer than 5 yards. That leaves Butler all alone on the right side at a new position.

Silence on Lynch from the Buffalo media means nothing the local media is incompetent at reporting anything on the Bills most stories are not even reported first by the local guys supposedly covering the team. on Lynch he is a thug- and a not too bright one a that - chances are that he will miss more than the 3 games he is currently suspended for. Unlikely he is on the field for the Bills in 2010.

It all rests with the coaches 1. they have to stop the run with a small undersized front 7 2. they have to devsie schemes to somehow utilize a DE which makes the front 7 even smaller 3.they have to quickly develop cohesion on an OL where all the players are new to their positions and find a way for a fat slow overpaid blob can hide at LT without hamstringing the offense more than it was in 2008

the biggest reason why teams are able to convert 3rd downs is that they run effectively on 1st and 2nd downs to make 3rd down a run / pass option - The Bills then play too soft in coverage making it easy to pick up short yardage. bringing in Maybin as a pass rush specialist will not help much if the 1st and 2nd down history repeats, because teams will exploit Myabin's weakness against the run on anything shorter than 3rda nd 5. The Bills failed to improve the front 7s ability to stop the run - so unless the defense plays in perfect sync and gets much m re aggressive and the offense keeps them off the field- the team will continue to get dominated on the ground.

As noted above, the front office is the problem. the plan should be to build a quality football team, not to simply field the cheapest OL possible. first of all they should have extended Peters last year a pro bowl LT is a great place to start failing that, they should have sucked it up and signed him this year. with a plan to sign Peters, they should have had a plan in place to trade Dockery - not some last gasp nonsense that was more a media creation to try to save face and why the need to move Dockery - when they could have paid the bonus but got a trade to recoup some value. Obviously he had value, since he was signed the day after he was cut. now they have neither of them - and will be showing Walker the door next year after he tanks at LT

the same holes that Fred Jackson consistently hit to generate a full yard higher YPC. Lynch can't get to the 2nd level because he doesn't focus on getting thru the 1st level. Lynch is a plugger. For being the 12th player taken, he has no breakaway speed and bad vision. He starts, but he sure does not provide the production and dynamic play you absolutely need from top 12 picks.

so knowing that the LG is cheating over to help the LT would not create a nice seam up the middle for an enterprsing Dc to exploit?? jail break city up the middle and the shortest path to the QB Walker will be abused at LT- which should lead to some interesting responses from TO before too long. not too worry - Walker is just being set up for failure so he and his inflated contract can be cut loose next year

excuses, dam excuses and statistics replacing the entire OL in one off-season does not ensure that it will be any better in 2009, especially when you got rid of a pro bowl LT a highly paid LG, replaced them with rookies and 4 members will play different positions in 2009. hey it may work without a flaw from day 1 then again still looking for those flying pigs

you mean the same interior OL that the same front office brought in 2 years ago to much praise at a cost of over $60 million. a fine tribute to the awesome evaluation skills of John Guy.

don't confuse having high tackle stats with "making plays" pizza boy had a lot of tackles because someone had to fall on the ball carrier several yards downfield. however, he did not make many plays at the LOS or in the backfield on in coverage for that matter. he is just another slow, undersized guy accumulating meaningless stats for the delusional fan base to gawk over.

Griffey's injury history the big advantage of performance enhancing drugs is the avoidance and quick recovery from injury that's why these abusers are still putting up huge numbers in their 40s. you don't think the golden boy Cal Ripkin played that many games in a row without a boost along the way

not if you are the Federal govt the 3rd way is to have your independent bank (which is neither a Federal agency or backed by reserves) simply print more money. this continues its sole purpose of decreasing the purchasing power of the dollar - which has lost 95% of its value since the Federal Reserve was created.

there is a method to the madness of why the Bills spent big bucks to hire a new VP of Sales - but kept the inept coaching staff and traded away their best player and still came out smelling like a rose with increased ticket sales. Brandon is a marketing genius

for the people that can find good paying jobs in their field of expertise- you are correct. unfortunately, that corporate presence you mention to be lacking is generally what provides good jobs. Unfortunately, the Buffalo economy is built on the county being its main employer- which since it does not build or produce anything is not a viable economic engine. However, the fans will buy any trype that the Bills put up for sale - so all is well in Bills nation

even with no coaches, the Colts would be better coached than the Bills. hard to understand how a Bills team with a proven track record of bungling their way out of the playoffs for a decade gets the benefit of the doubt over a Colts organization run by Bill Polian which has been a true title contender for the same time period. The Colts are replacing their coaches internally so there are no new systems being implemented and they still have the best QB in the league executing the offense.