All_Pro_Bills

EJ consistently throws the ball behind and high to his receivers. Its on him that Goodwin almost got killed On a 5 yard crossing pattern the ball was thrown high and behind Goodwin. This is just one example. That's a basic throw. A competent QB must consistently put the ball in front of the receiver near the hands in stride in the direction the receiver is running. It doesn't get any more basic. That all said the offensive line didn't do EJ an favors yesterday. You have to be able to pick up a basic line stunt and hold a block now and then but once in a while you need to make a good throw under pressure. You can't teach accuracy. And that's a problem. If fans want to believe time and experience is going to correct accuracy problems I fear they are mistaken. Experience give you recognition, composure, and awareness, and knowledge. And most troubling is the head coach pretending this isn't a problem when commenting after the game. If Marrone really believe his QB had a good game then his judgment is faulty. He's more likely just covering for EJ. EJ is a likeable person and someone you root for but I've concluded he simply doesn't have 'IT'.

Let them fear coming into our house! Take what you want out of the Chargers win last weekend but the Seahawks are 9-8 on the road with Russell Wilson at QB which to me kind of puts last weeks 'upset' into a different perspective.

I don't expect the 'experts' to pick the Bills to win until they get the Vikings at home in week 7. But does it really matter? On the CBS pre-game show Boomer and Barkley picked the Bills, I looked at USA Today nobody picked the Bills with some pointing to the game as a 'lock'. I'm sure the Chargers will be favored going into next Sunday. They just beat the Suprt Bowl champs. But SB winners don't go 16-0 the next season and I watched a lot of San Diego/Seattle. I didn't get the impression the defending champs brought their 'A' game here and the Chargers made the plays that made the difference and the Seahawks did not. As for the experts, I've concluded these guys don't watch much game tape because if they did watch the Bills/Bears and Dolphins/Pats from week 1 (the 30 minute shortcuts are good for this) they would have seen a Bills team that edged the Bears in a very competitive hard-fought contest and a Dolphins team that clearly lost the 1st half and clearly won the 2nd half where Brady was way off and the Pats defense couldn't tackle anyone. Maybe it was the heat, maybe the number of plays the Dolphins 'O' ran, maybe Miami got their game together? But from what I saw on tape from week 1, watching both games and knowing we'd have home-field-advantage, I couldn't see how the Bills could lose if they played with the same consistency as week 1. The Chargers are a good team but they are far from flawless. And although they get no respect yet its becoming obvious the Bills are a good team too. Maybe I'm getting a bit ahead of things but my expectation is the Bills are for 'real' this season and perhaps with the exception of the Denver game on the road I'm not afraid of anybody on the schedule based on what I've seen the first 2 weeks.

Looking at the schedule we'll probably be talking about nobody picking the Bills to win until the October 19th game at home vs. Minnesota..

More than pop culture it's the political culture. Control the language along with what can be said and what can be discussed and you control thoughts and ideas.

I watched the 30-minute game shortcut of the Pats-Dolphins game yesterday. My overall reaction was that talk of New Englands demise is premature. I didn't see any start-to-finish domiant performance. NE clearly won the 1st half and Miami certainly had the better of the play in the 2nd with a 23-0 run. M. Wallace should learn to be a gracious winner and keep his mouth shut because they play again.

My expectation is a wildly enthusiastic crowd representing the newly re-energized Bills fan base (we're 3-0 this week, Bills win, JK cancer free, TP buys the Bills) is going to be the difference here in a close game. On Sunday we'll witness the rebirth of home-field-advantage at RWS and the start of making life miserable for the road time once again..

The big difference yesterday was the defense finished the game. They held Chicago to a FG on the last regulation drive rather than do something we've come to expect- which is to allow a TD with 30 seconds left. And they held on the opening drive of OT. Let's hope this is a trend rather than an expection but if I'd characterize the play of the Schwartz defense to the Pettine defense I'd say this year's version played with more 'control'.

The hurry up made no sense. First you do it right, then you do it faster. Doing it wrong faster leads to more punts and a tired defense in the 4th quarter. Play calling - 3rd and 1 is not a passing down the majority of the time. Didn't see much variation in game plan from opponent to opponent regardless of who they were playing against with the exception that Tuel and Lewis threw more downfield than EJ. If its not a play calling difference but rather a QB difference we have a major problem with our starter's confidence. That said, I'm expecting to see some 'designed' plays specifically for Watkins and Spiller this year. I don't want to see the same offensive plays with Spiller or Jackson in the game. Tailor the calls to the situation and the personnel. I want to see calls that get Watkins into space. I'd like to see more use of EJ's mobility, rolling out and throwing on the move, because it seems he's more accurate and comfortable moving out of the pocket and throwing on the run.

This does seem to be on Marrone because barring injuries, the coaching staff should be settled by this point on the 5 starters for the offensive line. This is creating more confusion, inconsistency, and a lack of communication resulting in a lot of blown assignments. On some plays I saw 6 guys blocking 3 while the 4th rusher came unblocked. Right now Glenn is back, Henderson has played well enough to challenge Pears, Wood is settled in at center, Ubrik has been as good as anyone else at right guard and they signed Chris Williams for decent free agent money. If he doesn't start then I question the signing and the thought process. Richardson and Kojo aren't ready. And EJ's body language just doesn't send the signals of a guy that is comfortable and confident playing the QB position for whatever reason. Maybe its on him, maybe its the on-line, maybe its the play calling? Or some combination of them? One of my nephews who isn't a Bills fan told me that he gets the impression from watching that the Bills offense seems fairly predictable (he got no argument from me on that) and that EJ seems to just run the play called by the OC and doesn't audible out when making his pre-snap reads. At a minimum it gave me something more to think about. I'm getting a little off-topic but I guess that begs the question how much freedom is the coaching staff giving the QB to audible out of the play calls? I realize this is still only pre-season but has Hackett designed an offense around the talent or is he trying to fit the talent to the design? The second alternative is rarely a path to success. I know the OC is often viewed as a convenient scapegoat but is our biggest problem really that our OC in over his head and the HQ is oblivious or ignoring this problem?

Typically, expectations among Bills fans are sky high as we get ready for the season opener in less than 2 weeks. Usually lots of excuses for poor pre-season performance with things like vanilla offense, not game-planning, hiding stuff, new receivers, new coaches, new system, etc. This year not so much. Maybe that's a good contrary indicator? Sometimes when you see capitulation, people giving up and throwing in the towel, it's a sign we've reached rock bottom and are on the way up. Maybe we get a pleasant surprise for once? If any fanbase deserves a break its us Bills fans. I'm keeping Sunday Ticket. If I tried to cancel it my wife would get all over me about it and tell me I'm not much of a fan if I'm giving up before the season even starts. She watches the games too and at times is more devoted than I am to the Bills. I still haven't decided if having you wife like football and wanting to watch games on Sunday from 1 PM through to the night game is a good thing or not. Guess it's better than the guys that get married and find out their new wife hates watching sports and just 'faked' it when they were dating!

Hindsight is 20/20 and the 49ers knew exactly what they were getting with SJ. A guy that could potentially fill the 3rd receiver spot and could be called upon to start without much drop off if the 1 or 2 got hurt. If the cap number for a non-starter was troubling then don't make the deal plain and simple. But SF management saw SJ as someone that could be a productive part of their team which has a focus on winning and getting back to the big game this year, not putting cap hits and budget issues first. The Bills traded a player that had been productive with some mileage left but the team had also grown weary of his antics and what came off at time a 'me first' attitude. The fact they parlayed the received pick into acquiring players that should help the team now is a real plus.

Teams are required to report injuries based on the NFL rules and coaches are under no obligation to expand on the status or condition of specific players that might be hurt. And there are regulations and legal issues surrounding medical privacy. Questions about when he might come back, I can see those as legitimate but if your doctor is not allowed to share or discuss your personal medical condition with others why does anyone think fans have some 'right' to know intimate details about a players condtion? As for the coaches press conference? I didn't see it and I stopped watching these types of things some years ago. Press conferences, CBS or Fox pre-game shows, ESPN, NFL network shows. Don't watch any of them. Over time I concluded they were a waste of my time. For now I am only interested in what happens on the field on Sundays and what the coach has to say in a pre-season press conference isn't too important.

That's how it looks right now. I don't see much separation between the play of the 3 QB's so far. Sure its preseason but its preseason for every team so the excuse of playing vanilla or not wanting to show anything applies to every team including the defenses the Bills offense is facing. If the opposition is showing nothing exotic and your 2nd year QB still cannot figure 'it' out then you might have a problem. I'm not that down on the Watkins trade up and it all depends on where the Bills finish in judging the costs. A top 10 pick and you got to think the Bills gave up too much, a pick in the 20's, not so much. If the O-line comes together and the defense doesn't lose a step this team might go 8-8 even with medicore QB play. A good QB and we could be looking at 11 wins. I think Marone is safe for one more season barring a major disaster like 4-12.

I'm shocked at the Chicago media's prediction because when I looked at the schedule I saw the Bears game as a win for the Bills! Their O-line isn't good and their defense was ranked 30th last year in yards allowed so its nothing to get excited about. The Bills will probaby rush for something like 200 yards on opening day while the defense pummels Cutler to an early season beat down. I figured 3-1 vs. the NFC North with the probable loss to the Packers where GB is the only team of the 4 to finish the season over .500..

Right on from the players perspective. He can afford to wait. And there's a lot of risk for any team trading for Mallet. They would have to give up some picks and make a decision to commit to a new deal without a lot of information here. And what information would they use to make an evaluation of whether or not to commit big money and term? The guy hasn't played a regular season NFL game. Bringing in a QB you envision as your starter but has no experience at this point in training camp? Not seeing that as a winning formula. Gotta believe the smart money passes here and if interested waits until the free agency period starts next year to express interest without giving up any draft choices. Pats are going to come up empty unless they find some desperate GM to deal with here. Mallet is better off riding the bench another season and getting some freedom in picking next gig..

What's the problem with Hogan? By all accounts he's one of the first guys onto the practice field and one of the last to leave. The guy is putting in the time and effort to perform at and reach his full potential. Maybe that ceiling isn't as high as Woods or the other WR's but If his attitude and effort pushes the other WR's to do the same that can only be a good thing. It will make everybody better and the team better. I think the message during this camp from Marrone is that nobody is getting handed anything and what you get, like playing time, is earned by effort and performance.

I think patience is needed here for an evaluation of the book of work on EJ for the entire pre-season but we're a long way from being able to 'check off' the QB position from the things to worry about list. Nothing i saw last night gave me the warm and fuzzy feeling that EJ has the 'it' the good/great quarterbacks have.

Because he loves Skittles!

I think the A&M trademark should be invalidated on the grounds it is discriminitory and offensive similar to the Redskins trademark issue. This is clearly a case of gender discriminition A more PC version for the current social environment would be "the 12th person". Really, I am just joking here because to I think A&M is making a mountain out of nothing. The BIlls fan site does not seek to exploit the term for profit or personal gain. Only to rally fans around a specific cause. The use of the term and the site will likely be transitory. So what financial damage can that cause some college football program down in Texas?

From all the news 'leaks' it sounds like TP's bid was the highest and topped out around $1.25B. I'm not at all familiar with the process such as whether or not more bidders can submit proposals or if this transitions into a competitive bidding contest between specific choosen finalists. But I expect Pegula will emerge victorious here. Which constitutes a victory for Bills fans everywhere. It provides stability for the franchise and the league while raising the bar on the valuation front for all franchises, something the owners are certainly going to be happy with seeing. And its an 'all cash' offer, no mess, no fuss with investment banks and finances or 3rd parties being involved or complicated ownership arrangements. Just TP walking into the commissioners office with a suitcase full of $100's, laying it on the table, and opening it up, and and the trust saying 'deal'.

Not sure Buffalo will ever reach its previous level of prosperity but I applaud people like TP that have the willingness, the funding, and perhaps the vision to make things happen. Restoring the city center with things like Harbor Center seems like a worthy goal. With this I support the downtown stadium idea which could lead to all kinds of activity springing up around it. Buffalo continues to get a bad rap but I think its generally from people who have never been there. The weather issues are overrated. Sure it snows but the city rarely has any downtime as a result. This can't be said about many east coast cities but its generally true of the cities around the Great Lakes, another resource that can't be underestimated. Fresh water something many cities, for example the US southwest, are experienceing shortages (or maybe no shortage of water but too many people stressing the environment being the problem). Add hydroelectric power to the list of pluses and close proximity to the Canadian market. The big hang up probably being the high tax environment.

My understand is that the NFL did not consider Canadian territory to be part of the Bills market and only considers the U.S. territory when determining markets. That is why Buffalo is a small market team. If Toronto was considered to be part of the Bills market that would make the Bills one of the largest market teams in the league since the population of Toronto and Southern Ontario exceeds most NFL cities and its surrounding population centers. Does the league consider Vancouver to be part of the Seattle market? The distance between the two NFL cities and their Canadian counterparts is about the same. Windsor and western Ontario part of Detriot? But then again, I don't know this for sure, just sayin'.

From a quick read of the process and criteria it sounds like Pegula's mutli-billion dollar liquidity and single bidder status would put him near the top when ranking against the league's owners criteria. And if his bid is in the ballpark or the highest, and all cash, that would score points on the bid and payment and provide a straight path for the trust. No loans, no credit risk. Of the 'known' potential bidders to date my guess is Terry sounds like the right fit for the NFL owners along with an all cash payment to the Wilson trust.

I'm sort of where you are now. Used to attend at least one game a year from out of town. I love the tailgating experience, mingling with other fans both friends and strangers, along with the 'live' game experience. But I absolutely do not want to deal with the plastered idiots, shouting profanities, staggering around, and making a general nuasance of themselves.