WhitewalkerInPhilly

The odds of the Patriots putting Mallet in are the odds that the Bills leave Brady mewling with pain and unable to stand. Anything else, and they have him in.

Well, it certainly makes sense geographically. But playing the Steelers and Bengals twice a year is a pretty trick proposition. At least we wouldn't play the Ravens twice a year...

Interesting! It's good to see both Spiller and Jackson practicing. If they can be rotated in with Choice (neither should be made to carry the load if they aren't 90%), we might be able to stay alive on offense. But the Patriots injury report is even more interesting. I think we all knew Hernandez would be out, but if Mankins and Edelman are out this week, that could lead to some possibilities. The Patriots already have a pretty banged up O-line, and they were using Gronk as a blocker in a lot of the Ravens game. (only 2 catches) Without Hernandez, their 2 TE formations aren't as effective, and they've been going 3 WR. If Edelman is out, they are going to be pretty far down their depth chart there as well.

Look, I'm happy for him. I really am. But it's kind of like finding out that your college sweetheart has found someone while you've been shacking up with a someone hotter and lower maintenance. Sure, it would be better to have both at the same time, but probably not worth the inevitable spending.

Yeesh, what is with the Welker hate? Sure, he's reaching the end of his career but he definitely has a decent few years left during which we can recruit a solid WR core. Because, let's face it, our current group is sub-par. A third round pick would be a great deal.

Until I we get corroboration I'm not buying it. The move makes NO sense at this point in the season.

I don't really give a half a hump who won or not. But we're talking about two primetime games on back to back nights with extremely contentious officiating. If this doesn't end the lockout, the next stage may be an all out brawl.

"The Controversy Which Ends the Lockout"

No. Which is why I am paying very close attention to Fred Jackson's injury report. I simply don't see Choice making himself a big enough threat to make the Patriots to do anything besides blitz the crap out of Fitz. If we get Fred back, it opens up more opportunities. We've spent a lot of time with ways to run effectively, and if Freddy is 85%, our offense can do something. Whether or not the D can stop Brady is another matter entirely.

HA! Not to the idea of Bills winning, but after the thrashing just two weeks ago, I would be shocked if they weren't out for blood.

I think Young, unfortunately, has a point. Now, I'm not against having new blood. I wouldn't have a problem if these replacements were being broken in slowly, but they're NOT. They are being handed full control and they are clearly not ready. I'm not talking about missed/blown calls. Those happen with the old refs, on both sides. They are happening more, but if that was the only problem I wouldn't care. What I care about is that games are stretching to crazy lengths. What I care about is that we find out after the fact that refs had clear conflicts of interest. (a Saints fan reffing a Saints game, a ref with an Eagles player starting in fantasy football) What I care about are the scrums which keep erupting (Bills second TD, Ravens/Eagles, MNF). These are all problems, and they are going to get worse until some superstar gets his clock cleaned and we have a new Kevin Everett (if it has to be someone, God forbid, please let it be Brady), field-wide fistfights break out, or someone is proven to be throwing games.

Is the NFC stronger than the AFC? Quite possibly. Does that make this an ideal season for the Bills? I don't think so. We *might* have a slight edge playing the West, which was a weaker division last year but is looking pretty strong now, but I really think the most competition for a spot will come from our own division or the AFC North. With a division loss against the Jets, we're going to have to thrash the Dolphins both times and win at least one more division game to be in the running. The AFC north has cleveland at the lowest rung, but all of them they get to play the Chiefs and Raiders, as well as an aging Peyton Manning learning a new system. I don't think the NFC is going to help with that too much.

The best? I don't know. We still aren't phenomenal at power running. When you watch the game against the Chiefs, most Spiller runs came out of the spread. But there still is something to be said for our rushing strategy (as long as Fitz can make them pay by calling an audible if they keep 8 men in the box) and our pass protection looks good. We've allowed ZERO sacks, and are tied for second in number of QB hits. I think playing Houston and San Fran will tell us exactly how good we are.

Wow, thread resurrection! But indeed, we saw a very different gameplan this time around and I was thrilled. I've been advocating for Spiller for two years now, so I am *thrilled* to see him coming into his own. And Jackson will be coming back in a few weeks, and he's better at power running so I think he'll balance them out. We have two fullbacks, good blocking tight ends and an O-line which has allowed *zero* sacks in two games, has the least number of QB hits, and helps a bevy of runners for 6.4 yards a carry on the ground. I'm sure we've been over this to death, but two weeks in we lead the league in rushing yards, yards per attempt and have the leading rusher. And this has been against a stout Jets run defense and a (considered capable) Chiefs run defense. I'm not worried about being a "run first" offense. You can definitely do it and make the playoffs, as that has been the Ravens and Jets trademark style for years and they have been fairly regular playoff fixtures. What I am worried about is the fact that you need a stout defense, which we don't have yet.

I think there is no doubt that the man in streaky. If you could bottle what he had on those Oakland/New England comebacks last year... But no. I'm entirely happen when "Good Fitz" is able to make some throws, not putting him to too far beyond his comfort zone, and then we run the crap out of the ball to help him. Fitz can also leg it pretty well himself.

I know Ravens fans were livid about some of the calls the refs made, especially calling back a touchdown for "offensive pass interference" when it was the defender. Having one admit he's an Eagles fan...I can hear the Ravens howling already

I love it. The man has done nothing but push for the last two games and has done it well. Did you see the path he cleared for CJ on the second touchdown? Seeing him in action, I would have been happy with him as our first round pick. I'm thrilled to have him as our second.

But at least it will be until after the Bills play them at home. The Pats are coming up on this for their three game stretch with a horrible O-line, meaning more shots on Tom Brady: the Baltimore Ravens at Baltimore (an extremely tough, defensive team), the Bills at home (with the D-line finally coming alive) and then against the Broncos (a Brady/Manning duel). These are all games which I'm thinking NE could realistically lose.

I'm just wondering, since I wasn't getting the Patriots/Cardinals game yesterday, what did they do to make them so effective? They held Brady to one touchdown, had him throw one pick and hit him with four sacks. Has anyone seen a breakdown of the game yet?

Here's hoping that Wanny is looking at that game tape now. Also that Hernandez is out in two weeks.

Again, we shouldn't be too optimistic but seriously we could start making a case. We're still waiting for all the number to come in, but I think Spiller may be the leading rusher in the league at the end of week 2, and he's done it on less than 30 handoffs. He's averaging 10.1 yards a carry. That's a FIRST DOWN a carry. People won't be able to afford treating him as less than elite for long.

I know there was some worry about him protecting the blind side, but the man looked like a stud, both as pass protecting Fitz against Hali and helping Spiller run. Did you see that block he laid out on CJ's second touchdown? Priceless. Gilmore is looking better, but Glenn has looked like a beast against some very good pass rushers.

I would agree that it doesn't hurt to look. Look, whether or not you like Fitz (which I happen to do) I have to ask one simple question: do you see Ryan Fitzpatrick as a franchise quarterback, the guy that we speak of with the same tone as Jim Kelley? I think Fitz is our best option this season. There were/are so many problems to fix that trading up crazy high to get RGIII wasn't an option. I wan't Fitz running this offense this year. Next year too. The year after that...I'm open to suggestions.

Every week should be a must win game. But seriously, the Chiefs were 7-9 last year. They don't have gimmicky quarterback to distract the Bills preparation. They are an average team, coming into a home opener where the players will hopefully be fired up and determined after last week. If we CAN'T put up a good showing here, I don't see much reason to expect to go to the playoffs.

Look, I'm a big Fred Jackson fan too. I think he has a great story, and last year he was one of the best backs in the league. But last year, Spiller did a bang up job as his replacement. And against one of the great defenses of the league Spiller put up enough yards to lead the lead the league in rushing and put up over 200 yards. Week one sucked, I'm not going to stop being a Bills fan because of it.