thurst44

Not that close, really. But that's really more a testament to the phenomenal trainwreck that is the Browns.

The Onion's parody atlas used that as the theme for one of the African countries, with one caption reading: "the Buffalo Bills were a dynasty in this region"

This! I'm amazed at people who are utterly convinced that EJ will never be a good QB based on this year, and rail about the horrible season he had. He was certainly mediocre and had flaws and some awful games, but that's how a rookie QB's season generally goes. For perspective, fans need to look at the inaugural seasons of Brees, Peyton Manning, Aikman...really any superstar QB. Manuel's season would actually lie somewhere around the 60th percentile (if you could truly graph it thus). Yes, 14 years of blah, playoffless football is hard to stomach and makes patience hard, but this is the calculated rebuild many around here have asked for...it ain't pretty, but there are many signs of hope, and loads of young talent. As for Marrone, I haven't seen anything so damning (the Crossman hiring is indeed a bit suspect) as to not give him the benefit of seeing what he'll do in his second year with an open mind. Now, if he jettisons a ton of good players (i.e. Dareus) for not being his "type," he may lose a little of my good will (I'm sure he'll lose sleep). To the OP's question: I'm never happy to see a player go, just hope they get better on my favorite team. It's a far happier occasion when whipping boys like Aaron Williams and Leodis McKelvin find their groove and prove haters wrong. That being said, I'd be quite ok with TJ finding another home and Marquise getting his reps (although, should he stay and prove me wrong, all the better).

Compare his first 8 games to other star QBs' first 8 games...he's doing alright for a rookie QB (really, we're complaining about 9 TDs and 4 INTs in first eight games). And had Stevie held on to the ball, what would we be saying about poised 4th qtr comeback EJ. Also, fans complain that the Bills need to rebuild with a potential franchise QB (whatever we think that means)...we lose games in his first year (which is what generally happens in rebuilding) and we panic. Lastly, the difference is not exactly slight -- 8 TDs, 19 INTs vs. 9 TDs, 4 INTs

I get where you are coming from, but they are different animals completely. For the record, I've been saying we'll probably lose to the Saints (but we can and should dream), but have a solid chance to beat the Chiefs. The Saints game was in New Orleans, the Saints have been a top team off-and-on for years, and their only loss was by 3 in New England. The Chiefs game is in Buffalo, KC has benefited from an incredibly easy schedule, it is a classic trap game (as the Broncos are up next on the Chiefs schedule), and the Bills have a recent history of having KC's number. I'm not saying it's a sure win or even 50/50, but it's a very winnable game...and if the Bills can pull this off, then they should not face a game in which they are underdogs until the final game at New England.

So you're saying the Bills would be "tremendously lucky" to beat three teams who currently have fewer wins combined than the Bills (and one of those wins came when one of those teams played one of the other two)?

20 & 35 respectively is a bit old to be in diapers...if that's their level of maturity, we should be able to beat them handily.

Before you go too too far with this reasoning, consider that this was what was constantly being said about a then-33yo DT named Williams before he went to the Vikings and attended three consecutive Pro Bowls. Not saying that everyone's comparable, but just to be wary of assuming every player has the same expiration date. I'm still a bit peeved about the Bills letting him go.

Most experts I saw beat us to beat the Jets (then again, a lot of that was the mirror negative Jets experts in NYC)

I trust my eyes as well and have seen them stop the return man before the 20 more often than not too...special teams have been erratic, but not as bad as some people here would have it, and there's hope the bad moments can be corralled.

I can see a good argument for this. I doubt it's Spiller's lack of toughness...it's more that he got the exact worst type of injury for his direction-changing running style. I kind of like the way they're using him now...throwing him in for limited plays on the chance he still breaks one for a 50-yarder, but keeping him fresh so when he is fully healed, he won't be rusty in the system.

How about if I told you we lost EJ and were playing our practice squad QB, that we lost our top 3 cbs and top safety for much of the first 7 games, that CJ was hobbled and getting held to under 10 yards in multiple games? And then, what if I asked you to look at our relatively tough schedule? What would you think our record would be? 1-6? 0-7? How many games would you have guessed we were within a TD of winning in the 4th quarter? 2? 3-4 is not great and this team has had some dreadful moments, but they have also given reason to give hope, and done many things right...they clearly don't give up, and have managed to be in every game so far this year.

Also, one of the INTs was a decent pass (if too hard for the distance) to Stevie (and talk about a crazy game -- perhaps his worst all-around as a pro...and his hustle completely saved the game at the end)

Plus we almost beat a much better Ravens D with a non-worldbeater QB a couple years ago, well into an 0-8 start...

And oddly won in a style that's reverse-Bills (i.e. heartbreaking for the other team -- and here's to you, mr. denkinger)

You mean other than Spiller's 6.2 yards per carry between the tackles last year? Honestly, I do think there's a lot to criticize about the game-calling this week, but the use of Spiller/Jackson is not one of them. They were right to use FJ often, yet to keep trying with Spiller b/c he has proven his ability to break a big run at any moment -- the exact sort of giant play which can spark a team. To my inexpert eyes, it seemed like something was off in the exchanges between EJ & CJ, but it's also very likely Spiller simply had a bad game. If that's the case, one of the heartening things to come out of a blah loss is that Jackson looks to still be a force with which to be reckoned and one of the best back-ups/2-punches in the league, and when both are playing at top of their game it will be hard for other teams to stop.

Personally, I don't think it's a question of heart...both FJ & CJ seem to have passion and motor to spare. I'm more worried that something seemed out-of-sync/broken with CJ...the handoffs from EJ to CJ seemed awkward and it felt like one or the other was telegraphing every run. But then, I'm not an expert and could be seeing something not there. Hopefully CJ just had a bad game. Honestly, I liked the way Marrone/Hackett mixed FJ in as a counterpoint, and continued to try to get the big play from CJ. CJ just wasn't making it work.

Actually, if you're following trends, recently more Pats-Bills games have been within a TD than a blowout.

Ridley & Vereen over Spiller & Fred Jackson? Really? So Cordy Glenn, Eric Wood, and Kraig Urbik are not "real offensive linemen"??! And I'd love to see you tell Dareus he doesn't play with toughness. Really, the dude had one bad stretch after his fifth or so close relative died in tragedy.

Hopkins got hurt, he didn't fail. He may still play for the Bills for a decade. Hardly 0 for 2. Let's not count our roosters as dead before they hatch...

Hogan has been quite good as a gunner. That's my reason for wanting to keep him. I'd love them to keep 7, frankly, like that year George Wilson made the team as a WR.

While part of me kinda agrees, one could also argue that a celebrity doing a good deed in the light will encourage others to do the same. Also, if a kid sees SJ13 doing this, it sets the notion of community as a value. This particular act of kindness sort of cements the idea that Stevie is part of the Buffalo community. This is one of the things that makes Buffalo a special NFL market...the fact that you might go out about the city and interact with the players. I had dozens of encounters with Bills in my 7 years in the city...in my last 15 years in NYC, the closest I had to even seeing a Jet or a Giant was when I saw either Tiki or Ronde Barber coming from that credit card commercial they did a few years back.

Overreacting and reacting are not the same. Oh, and watch out for the sky...it is falling! (actually, i'm visiting buffalo and this storm does kind of feel like the sky is falling...damn!)

Thank you! He not only got a win against NE, but did so with Beanie Wells as his RB. Not to rip into Wells, but he's no CJ Spiller, nor even Freddie. And the Bills defense looks like it could be set for a breakout season. Look, I still want EJ to start, but this whole hue and cry that Kolb is horrible and can't win in the NFL is ridiculous. He started 4-0 last year with a team that went 1-10 without him, whether they won because of him or in spite of him. Has he proven himself? No. Did I want him in the off-season? Hell no. Am I sad that we won't see any more of EJ in the pre-season? Yes. However, let's have some perspective...it is not impossible, based on prior evidence, to believe that a team can win with CJ, this defense and special teams, even with (gasp!) Kevin Kolb as the QB. I'm rooting for EJ to be QB on Game 1, but if it is Kolb, hopefully he finds the spark. I also am both bemused and slightly fed up that the Bills are looking great in pre-season, and last I checked there were three threads up top blasting specific players. Yes, our team has been miserable for a long time, yes, they've started 5-2 twice recently and collapsed, but if we can't at least try to enjoy it when things are looking positive, what's the point? At least Jerry Sullivan has an excuse.