BRH

My problem with Dennis Green started a few years ago when Randy Moss said, "I play when I want to play." Right then and there Denny should have said, "No, Randy. You play when I want you to play. So you just let me know when you want to play and I'll think about whether I want you to play." Instead he did nothing, no doubt thinking it would save his job. In the end it cost him his job anyway.

I can. McGahee on Antuan Edwards against Miami earlier this year. Edwards had sent him flying out of bounds on a late hit earlier in the game. McGahee got another shot at him in the fourth quarter and knocked his sorry ass right out of the game.

Very true. When Jeff Faine went to Cleveland at 21, the Bills were pretty much down to the defensive line if they were going to draft based on need, unless they went for Eric Steinbach. So they looked at the remaining available defensive linemen (William Joseph, Kelsay, Tyler Brayton, Osi Umenyiora), correctly concluded that at least one of them -- and probably Kelsay -- would be available when they picked in the middle of the second round because most teams with D-line needs would already have filled them in the first round. They probably didn't like Joseph anyway -- there's got to be a reason he fell to 26. At that point people in the war room were probably making noises about trading down. Think of where we were at that point (spring 2003): * Bledsoe had had a bad second half in 2002 but no one thought at that point he was finished. We weren't thinking QB and at any rate, after Rex Grossman went to Chicago at 22, the plate was empty at that position. * As previously noted, there weren't really any bona fide OL or DL first-rounders left at 23. * Dallas Clark was still on the board, but we still had Dave Moore and had already traded for Mark Campbell, so we were set at TE. Not that Clark isn't a talent, but you rarely take a TE in the first round. * Eric Moulds and Josh Reed were set to begin the year as our starting wideouts, and we'd signed Bobby Shaw. There wasn't a first-round WR available at 23 anyway. * We were set at linebacker with Posey, Fletcher and Spikes. All the blue-chip linebackers were gone anyway. * In the secondary we still had Winfield and Clements, and the only safeties left (Rashean Mathis, Ken Hamlin and Mike Doss) would still be around in the second. * That was an "extra" first-round pick (we'd gotten it for Peerless). Our real first-round pick in 2003 was Drew Bledsoe, just like our first-rounder in 2005 will be J.P. Losman. So we were playing with Monopoly money at that point. * A healthy McGahee was head and shoulders above everyone else available. Think of it: had he not ripped up his knee, he'd have been the second pick in the draft and no one would have batted an eye. You knew he was going to the Raiders at the end of the first round if we didn't take him there, and maybe there just wasn't a trade-down possibility available in the next seven slots. So the alternatives were these: 1. Take Joseph or Steinbach at 23. 2. Trade down into the second round and take Kelsay and a safety. 3. Take McGahee. Man am I glad we went for door number three.

Outstanding post. I trust you checked and re-checked everything because if you got even one small thing wrong, it's going to fug up the whole post and a lot of people are going to be very upset when they find out. (But Kelso said...!)

I figured I'd use my initials since they won't change. I'm not sure anyone but AKC and me uses only initials, with no numbers or other identifiers -- and I'm not even sure AKC uses his own initials.

I don't disagree it's more physically difficult to play catcher (and quarterback) than shortstop. But aside from catcher, shortstop IS the most physically demanding everyday position on the field. Cal's 2,632 absolutely blows away Lou Gehrig's 2,130 by a whole lot more than just 502 games, because first base is the easiest position on the field by far (for example, back in Gehrig's era, the big slow doofus on the team ALWAYS played first because there was no DH slot to stick him in). And this is coming from an old first baseman.

Rookie of the Year Two-time AL MVP Two-time All-Star Game MVP Two-time Gold Glover Retired with more HR than any shortstop in history Redefined the position; before him, power hitters (and tall guys) didn't play short Owns a World Series ring I'd say he did enough to get into the Hall of Fame, streak or no streak. And 2,632 games in a row is nonpareil. Consider also that he had a ridiculous consecutive-innings streak going for a long time as well. To my knowledge he NEVER pinch-hit or started a game just to keep the streak alive.

That's terrible. Just terrible! The Bills won this game IN SPITE OF THOSE NUMBERS. Didn't you get the memo?

Not to mention when you do it on the road against a division leader coached by a guy who's won a Super Bowl. What's asinine is that there is even a debate over whether Bledsoe had a good game yesterday. He had a good game, Steve (and ICE). Get the hell over it already.

Punt returns: #1 in the NFL Kick returns: #6 Kick coverage: #1 Punt coverage is #16, a bit of a misleading stat for reasons previously discussed on this board (Moorman pins a lot of kicks and when he doesn't, he outkicks his coverage and ends up with a decent net anyway (9th overall). In fact, the eight teams with a higher yards per punt average are all reasonably-warm weather or dome teams (Oakland, Washington, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Tennessee, Carolina, Tampa Bay, St. Louis). Pass defense: #7 Run defense: #4 Overall defense: #3 The Steelers, Redskins and Bills are the only defenses in the NFL giving up fewer than 100 ypg on the ground and fewer than 200 ypg through the air. Obviously, the offensive numbers don't compare well, but clearly those are improving week-by-week.

He knows a lot about field hockey, though. And coffee.

I am not voting in this poll as a protest. We are going 10-6.

Good point. Still, if your quarterback is a gunslinger, he'll throw some interceptions. Yesterday Drew was a gunslinger; it was as close to the first half 2002 as I've seen him since.

Not all picks are created equal. I agree that his INTs yesterday were of the gunslinger variety. Jimbo had plenty of those. There wasn't any crap like the weak screen pass against Baltimore that Deion took to the house, or the pass three feet behind Moulds in New England that went right to Troy Brown. Yesterday Drew played to win, instead of not to lose. He made many more plays than he missed against a defense that runs a lot of confusing zone schemes and has some real ballhawks in the secondary. He threw a good block on Evans' reverse, sold that fake sneak to perfection, and did a solid job of managing the clock (such as at the end of the first half). I was happy with his performance -- and it was far from mediocre.

And you know, with all that cheese they eat, they couldn't be more wrong.

Let's pause after 11 games and see what the other first-year head coaches are doing: Norv Turner (Oakland): 4-7 Tom Coughlin (Giants): 5-6 (after starting 4-1, he's gone 1-5) Lovie Smith (Chicago): 4-7 Dennis Green (Arizona): 4-7 Joe Gibbs (Washington): 3-8 (he sort of counts) Jim Mora Jr. (Atlanta): 9-2 Mike Mularkey (Buffalo): 5-6 (after starting 0-4, he's gone 5-2) Right now, Mularkey is doing as well as any other first-year head coach and probably better. Mora is the only one with a record above .500 but (1) he's in the crappy NFC and (2) the Falcons hired him before the Bills had even fired Gregg Williams, I think. And other than Mora, Mularkey is the only first-year head coach who has his team coming together and playing well in the second half of the season. I think some of the people who were criticizing this hire would do well to publicly reassess their positions.

There was a reason I didn't respond to your original point. Register and I will. Otherwise go away.

Name, troll. Speaking of the Pats, the kinds of things the Bills did yesterday (the fake sneak, the surprise on-side, etc.) would have had the announcers spooging nonstop all over Belichick and Co. if the Patriots had done those things. And tonight we'd all have to listen to Madden and Michaels blathering on and on about yesterday's game and what a genius Belichick is and how great Tom Brady is, even though the Pats aren't even playing tonight.

Yes, and if memory serves, he picked off a pass intended for his brother and returned it for six.

I don't care about picks if the quarterback shakes them off and comes back and plays well. Jimbo had some high-pick games that he won, and this was right along those lines. This was a far cry from the Baltimore and New England games.

You really think Gonzalez wasn't mugged on that Harrison interception, don't you?

Not a bad choice at all. I tend to be partial to what's on Workingman's Dead, though. Uncle John's Band, New Speedway Boogie, Dire Wolf...

I'm still waiting for Antoine to catch that ball in Dallas last year. Three picks this year for him. Isn't that more than he had his whole career in Buffalo? I liked his game; he's a great tackler. But he didn't make the picks he should have made in a Bills uniform.

Those fights WERE awesome! And the big hits. Especially the pool of blood seeping out from under the player's head.

I'd say Achy Breaky Heart by Billy Ray Cyrus. Then he'd shoot himself just to get the song out of his head.