Red

Dude, money talks. You're telling me that a CFL player is going to choose less money to play in Miami, when he could get more AND make his offseason home Miami anyways? Nothing changes the scenery like a whole bunch of green ($$). Buffalo's problem is that they like to play hardball with free agents when nobody in their right mind wants to play for the Bills. Sure, Miami offers more distractions. Why couldn't he live there in the offseason, like most members from the 'U' do? Naw, the Bills did not make a serious, competitive offer or else we'd have him. And in all fairness, he was a gamble. He was a CFL phenom who actually has translated well to the NFL. I can't necessarily blame the Bills for not throwing the bank at him. But then again...why did we throw the mint at Maybin?

Have you watched any games where he has seen any action? If you have, I don't see how you can ask this question. He has an excellent first step, a great quick burst. But after that, he has nothing. No skills. He can't even tackle, and tries to go for that big hit and has nothing to bring. Watching him try to rush the passer, he has the 1st step, then beats himself by overextending and overplaying. He has no counter moves. No 2nd, 3rd, and 4th moves all good defensive pass rushers need to get to the QB. This will be his 3rd season next year. He held out for big bucks. So far, he has shown absolutely nothing to warrant playing time. And perhaps the most important question you should be asking is: on this horribly scouted Modrak built team such as the Bills, with no proven pass rusher on the roster, how is it that Maybin is not even seeing the field? If the talent is as bad as we all say it is, what does that say about Maybin if he can't crack the lineup?

Agreed. I would say that he actually returned to his pedestrian self at his more natural DE position. I had horrible visions of him trying to cover Ray Rice out of the backfield...

Dude, you had me at 'hello'. Your heading was too funny to pass up. Thanks for the honesty, and for now I'm with you.

In a league and day and age where prima donnas reign supreme, these were pretty classy comments to make. Hats off to Reed and Suggs. I've never liked the Ravens, but I respect them alot more now. Dude, love the pic. Anybody know where I can find some silicone?

The Maybin pick is just another example in a long line of colossal busts in Tom Modrak's tenure with the Bills. I don't care if Jauron pushed for him, when you've got Orakpo and Oher on the board, you go with a proven. I was speaking to a friend of mine down here in DC who just so happens to be a Redskins fan (go figure), and we got to talking about it. He watches more college football than I do, and asked me what were the Bills thinking by drafting Maybin? Nobody heard of him coming out of college, but everybody knew Orakpo. I had no answer, because there is no answer besides pure stupidity. Like drafting Whitner instead of Ngata. Not beating Miami for the services of DE Cameron Wake. Letting Pat Williams, London Fletcher, and Antoine Winfield walk...

Normally I would say any guy with half a sack would stop being called little boy names like bobby, jimmy, timmy, joey, or stevie. After say, the age of 5, adding the cute little 'ie' or 'y' after a guys names is just plain gay. Now, I'm sure I'll have alot of auto mechanics and body men that will disagree with that, but you have to grow up some time. When you turn 6 you should drop the add-on's. But in the case of johnson, after yesterday's performance...if he keeps it up, I could care less.

C'mon all you naysayers! This was a game where they were supposed to have gotten beat to a bloody pulp, and if not for the boneheaded play of Shawn Nelson, we probably would have won. Sure, it's not a win. But this is a statement game for a team that has been in desperate need of anything positive. They sustained drives. Converted on 3rd and even on 4th. They stuffed Baltimore and Boldin on more than 1 occasion. Rice did not run rampant. It was the first solid game they have played as an entire unit in quite some time. And Steve Johnson finally emerged!!

Ngata would be the reverse Pat Williams. What I mean by that is: we drafted and let Pat Williams go come contract time and all he did was go to Minnesota and make the Pro Bowl. We miffed on Ngata, but if we signed him we could get the player we should have drafted and build around him. Seymour and Light are too old, but I would break the bank on Ngata. I like Owen Daniels, as well. Ngata and Daniels with maybe a solid, starting, dominating offensive lineman and I would consider that an improvement.

I have to say, this is one of the best efforts with results game that the Bills, as a team, have played in some time. Lindell makes the 50 yarder to send it to OT? Nice. If Shawn Nelson was not such an idiot and kept both arms around the ball, we would probably have won the darn thing. Great job, and this is a loss to build from.

Considering the reputation the overall defense of Baltimore has for destroying opposing teams, our line played the most solid game they have for a long time. I'm talking years. Howard played well, did not make any penalties, and kept the heat off of Fitz. Green, who?

Today's Buffalo News has a great interview with Harbaugh and Newsome over in Baltimore. When speaking of how they draft, Harbaugh mentioned that they "build through the trenches" "because that is where the game is won or lost", and don't draft "one year wonders" who are projects (sounds like Maybin). They don't overthink things, and put a premium on QB's, defensive end/pass rushers, left tackles, and defensive backs. Sounds like we could learn a few things from Baltimore...

In regards to your response: the integrity of the NFL game is at stake here. Schlereth makes an excellent point: the NFL sells the vicious nature of hits, every week, I catch a game where CBS in particular slows down the play, jams the audio and "sells" the sound of the collision between players. But then the NFL wants to make sure it doesn't get too violent. That's a difficult distinction. On the one hand, the NFL promotes the violence of the game, but now they want to say only controlled violence is acceptable? Huh? My point is that if the NFL wants to come out, and say that ridiculously obvious plays where it is clear that the intent is to injure the opposing player, then those players will face stiff fines and possible suspension, I think is fine in and of itself. Letting it be known that malicious behavior will not be tolerated and that there will be consequences is understandable. But if the NFL is going to create more rules, then expect an official- who can't get holding calls and pass interference calls right on a consistent basis- to see split second collisions and be able to determine if they were legal or malicious? Who is going to make the call? If it will be the onfield officials in the game environment, then I will say that this may be one of the most abused penalties and is threatening to make the officials too powerful a force in the game (again, taking the playoff scenario, when emotions are already high, now players are going to be called for being viewed by some "over-officious jerk" (Marv-ism)as too violent? What price will that have if an impact player, is ejected from the game?). If it will be a review made by the league office after the game is over, then I would have less of a problem with it. Providing the league then also take the corrective step and direct players and coaches to return to the proper technique of tackling, and stop selling the violent aspect of the game.

At face value, why would be surprised that any player scouted by Modrak would not be worth a darn? So, if you are making the case for the firing of Modrak and the rebuild of the scouting department, then I am all for it. Nonetheless, it takes a solid 3 years to see if a draft pick can make it. Ah...ahem...Mr. Maybin? You've got 1 year left, my friend. I really agree with you on #4. The sad thing, Modrak and Co. are so bad at scouting, we've got 0 to a small handful of actual prospects to even get excited about. It would be totally different for me, for instance, if we had a bunch of 1st and 2nd year players that were really talented, they just needed to mature as an NFL player so that they don't overcommit- let's say- on a running or passing play. But you knew, based on the talent displayed on the field, that they would be good in a relatively short period of time. With the exception of Byrd, Spiller, and Wood...we've got nothing. Good post!

But you may be missing the point. I agree- malicious hits with intent to injure need to be completely removed from the game. They have always been penalized, but suspending players who deliberately seek to injure their opponent should suffer greater. My question is: who is going to make this decision? What looks nasty to one, may not look that way to another. Are you telling me, that you have reverence for the decisions of officials now? That a group who seemingly can't get pass interference or holding calls right, now are going to be able to distinguish a hard, clean hit versus an intent to injure? Are we going to see emotional, hard-fought, Championship Game battles now being decided by too much violence penalties ala the tuck rule? The way the NFL currently protects their money maker- the QB's- has already gone too far. The NFL should just come out and give QB's a red jersey, tell the defense you cannot even touch them, and move one. Atleast it would be honest. The NFL can't have it both ways. I have always held that Schlereth is a grade A Douche. But I actually respect him after seeing this. The other side of the coin is the poor technique that the pro's currently demonstrate. I always hated Deion Sanders, but I can recall when he was w/the 49ers him making a statement to the effect that he is not paid to tackle, he's paid to make INT's. In other words, "prime time" is more interested in making highlight reel plays to further his own agenda, than that of the team. IMO, 20 INT's per game would not give this guy playing time if he would be a liability in run defense. And I think this where most modern players are- particularly defensive backs. It's not about football fundamentals of hitting AND wrapping up, it's about highlight reel hits to separate the ball from the ball-carrier. This causes unnecessary and dangerous risks to the safety of the players, but also fosters a terrible attitude of seeking to injure the other player and leads to several missed tackles on the field. Though I think the NFL needs to be very careful on this issue and seldom use this rule, players need to go back to fundamentals, learn how to tackle again and let the highlight reel take care of itself.

OW!! Darn it, Sen...you HAD to throw the Pat Williams and London Fletcher thing out there, huh? Really?

I completely agree with your post. Like Poz said, winning football in Buffalo and this conversation is not even being had. But what I don't agree with Poz on, is that this Bills team has the talent to succeed and the players just need to try harder, work more, know your assignments, etc. I don't buy it. There is a huge difference on the field between making a mistake, i.e. knowing your role, and consistently being blown off the ball or knocked out of position due to sub-par talent. I'm not suggesting Poz is inferior (though if he could somehow get an adamantium skeleton ala wolverine I'd be happier), but our overall team talent is sorely lacking and IS closer to a really good UFL team than a solid NFL franchise. With Ralph, I think he simply places his trust in bean counters and men who have lost their craft long ago. The men whom I speak of is Tom Modrak, Jim Overdorf, and Jeff Littman. This trifecta of stupidity is what is crippling the franchise. Ralph is what, 91? I'm sure he has more pressing needs and is not physically capable of strangling anyone at OBD. He has to telecommute from Detroit, and trust that Littman and Overdorf are not burning down the franchise. The sad thing is, Modrak, Littman, and Overdorf have been killing the Bills over time; like death by a million paper cuts. Or a shot-gun buckshot blast to the stomach. They're just letting us bleeeeeed out, this past decade. And change is not really a good thing when you're 91. I'd love to know what Jim Kelly has said to Ralph in terms of what needs to be done to change this culture and who needs to go.

...... 'nuff said!

Ouch! This one really hurts, as it is from Mr. Ngata himself. I, too, would like the Bills to come clean with who is making these boneheaded decisions in the "brain trust". No offense to Whitner- whom I think is a good safety- but in terms of overall team need, Ngata fit and still fits more of what is needed on our time than Whitner does. Eek, gads. Modrak does not know how to scout players. Period.

I'm surprised that there are not more injuries to the knees, hips, and forearms seeing as how players no longer wear pads in these areas. That being said, leading with the head, helmet or not, is a stupid thing to do. Well, if you value walking.

What a boner of a thread. Cut Sanborn? The guy we had took too long to snap, which led to a couple of blocked kicks and sweat on the brow of Moorman. Sanborn is accurate, and snaps the ball like a rocket, saving valuable tenths of a second for the kickers to do their thing. He's one of the few bright spots.

I like our current regime of Nix/ Whaley/ Gailey, and I would love to lose Modrak and the scouting department to start on the path towards redemption again. But for the purposes of this thread, I would say Polian as GM and Parcells as coach. Total impossibility, but I figure since we're dreamin', why not dream about the best of each?

Exactly what I was thinking. Not to be all Willis McGahee here, but a quick look at Oakland, San Diego, and San Fran and we got nothin' on those teams.... Let's just say I would never worry about drowning... CM, you forgot the Chargers and 49ers, man. Those women are smokin! The Jills just can't compete. Hmm...kinda like the Bills vs the rest of the NFL, too...

I'll take crap for calling Evans the really good #2 WR that he is...but for Shaun Rogers? That is a terrible deal for the Bills.