vincec

Nelson & Mitchell over Jones/Roosevelt and Moats. Otherwise, I think you nailed it.

Not really.

Whatever you think of the grades, this illustrates the fundamental problem with the Bills- they have no elite players to build around. In these grades, no one is above 80. Championship teams need some top players to win. A bunch of solid, hard working guys only gets you so far...

That lineup doesn't exactly inspire confidence. It's probably not even as good as the one they started last year with (Johnson vs TO, Ellis vs Schobel). I would say that the only clear upgrade is Spiller. The key to the season will be Edwards. If Gailey can get him turned around then the Bills will be OK, otherwise they are sunk. Just as a random side not that probably doesn't belong in this thread: I watched the replay of the Cowboys - Chargers game on NFLN last night and was studying Philip Rivers. He is less mobile than Edwards and has an slower release as well, but he gets the ball out of there quickly, decisively and accurately. Dallas has a pretty tough pass rush and they were definitely getting through the SD OL, especially the OLBs, but not only didn't they get many sacks, San Diego completed most of their passes against them and moved the ball rather easily. I couldn't help but think that Edwards would get crushed in the same situation due to his indecisiveness (fear?). Gailey has a lot of work to do for him to be a championship caliber QB.

So does this development show that we should or shouldn't feel comfortable putting Levi Brown on the ps?

This makes sense to me. Why is it that college coaches defer the toss 90% of the time then?

+1

I don't think this is true. Your choice is to either a) kick or receive or b) chose which goal your team will defend. If you defer your choice until the second half then you can chose one of these two options for the second half, but NOT both. Your opponent had the choice in the first half, and almost certainly chose to receive because if he chose to take the wind, you would choose to receive and then will choose to receive in the second half and they would have to kick at the start of BOTH halves. At the start of the second half, you will almost certainly chose to receive for the same reason. As a result, your opponent will get to chose the side of the field to defend. Here is the rule: http://www.nfl.com/rulebook/cointoss

In general, I say put your most experienced unit on the field first, especially in big games. They can best handle the situation and avoid making mistakes due to all the adrenaline flowing at the start of the game. If it's the Bills... I guess that's the defense.

With all respect to Mr. Tucker, who I'm sure knows a lot more about o-line play than me, it seems that the best running teams have dominating centers. Nick Mangold with the Jets, Kevin Mawae with the Titans, Ryan Kalil with the Panthers and even historically, I think of the Steelers with Dermonti Dawson and the the Oilers with Bruce Matthews. I agree though, that the interior of the Bills OL is the least of their problems.

That's because they spent about half the time in a 4 man line... They looked A LOT better in the 4 man look, IMO.

Let's kick Maybin to the long term developmental scrap heap. The best the Bills defense looked yesterday was when they were in a 4 man front with Kelsay-Stroud-Williams-Edwards as the DLs.

I hate to say this, but not only is Chris Kelsay going to make the team, he's going to start and he's the best pass rusher off the edge they have. His presence made an impact in this game. The Bills played a ton of 4 DL fronts, especially when the starters were in, and the pass rush was decent.

Bell is a tough dude to tackle

Steve Tasker= "best half he has ever seen the Bills play in the preseason" I started watching late, but the Colts have 21 pts and I did see Lankster roasted twice... what's he talking about? Did the defense look good?

Now if they could only block one of their defensive ends just once...

Simpson is very shifty. If he played on a team with a line he would be tough.

1st play sack... next play int?

Um. Not to good from Lankster.

Indy's starters will maul us, but their backups are pretty bad and I don't think Manning is going to play for very long so I see a close game overall although it will be an ugly 1st quarter.

Yes. I like Evans and he's a good player, but he's really a #2 receiver/ deep threat specialist. He just hasn't shown the versatility to run different types of routes, be physical or get significant YAC needed to be a star, IMO. The Bills will definitely have to add another receiver(s) who can do some of these other things to have a balanced passing game.

And what kind of car do you drive?

If it helps, here they are again. I copied them down from the original thread. Buffalo Bills @WASHINGTON REDSKINS (actual game time: Friday, Aug 13th- 7:30pm) NFL Network broadcast times: Friday, August 13th- 7:30 pm (LIVE BROADCAST) Saturday, August 14th- 10:00 am (re-play) Monday, August 16th- 4:00 am (re-play) Wednesday, August 18- 7:00 am (re-play) Indianapolis Colts vs Buffalo Bills @TORONTO (actual game time: Thursday, August 19th- 7:30pm) NFL Network broadcast times: Thursday, August 19th- 11pm (re-play) Friday, August 20th- 10am (re-play) Friday, August 20th- 4pm (re-play) Saturday, August 21st- 1pm (re-play) Wednesday, August 25th- 7am (re-play) Cincinnati Bengals @BUFFALO BILLS (actual game time: Saturday, August 28th- 6:30pm) NFL Network broadcast times: Sunday, August 29th- 2am (re-play) Monday, August 30th- 7am (re-play) Buffalo Bills @DETROIT LIONS (actual game time: Thursday, September 2nd- 7pm) NFL Network broadcast times: Friday, September 3rd- 12pm (re-play) Saturday, September 4th- 4am (re-play) *All times Eastern Standard Time

It's because he's not playing scared like Edwards. Maybe he should be given the Bills OL, but he's not. Unfortunately, he can't hit the broad side of a barn so it's of limited benefit.

This. Also, I was watching some of the Cowboy-Raider game today on NFLN and they had the Cowboys local broadcast. I thought it was less biased and much more insightful than anything that Theisman or the Redskin team did. It just goes to show that it's not the local broadcast thats the problem, it's the broadcasters.