Utah John

There was a post a couple pages back that I'm too lazy to dig up, that suggested younger referees would be in better position, and there would be fewer missed calls. Was it last year, or the year before, when we suffered through the clown show of replacement refs? Being an official at this level is really hard, and I'll take a 50 year old guy with 25 years of experience over some whippersnapper who gets the wool pulled over his eyes. Anyway, not trying to start an argument, but I think that suggestion would be a bad idea.

By the way, on the Henderson call. That was fourth down. On second down the Bills were screwed out of half a yard on the ball placement (go back and check the replays). Instead of 3rd and half a yard, it was 3rd and a yard. Then the Bills gained half a yard on 3rd down. Would have been enough for a first if the spot was accurate after second down. This is not why they lost the game. But it happened.

1. The Bills screwed up enough to lose. 2. The Chandler call was ridiculous. 3. The non-call on the out of bounds hit was ridiculous. 4. The non-call for trying to wrench our guy's leg up and out of the socket was ridiculous. 5. The Henderson call is marginal. He did twitch, slightly, but not so the guy who came across the line could have seen it. If Henderson was trying to draw a defender over the line, he wasn't being obvious enough. I think he was just as still as most guys usually are, but after the guy lined up over RT or RG jumped, they had to call something. 6. The Williams call was correct. 7. The Bills screwed up enough to lose.

I think this is a must-win if the Bills have to get to 10 wins. There are a lot of AFC teams in the WC mix right now and many of them will play each other, so it's not clear at all whether 10 wins is actually necessary. But that ought to guarantee a WC slot. The Bills need to run the next few games to get to 9-3, then beat the Raiders. Or, beat NE at NE, Denver, or Green Bay, all of which are likely SB teams. It could be that one of those teams has home field advantage locked up and won't play their best players, but I would rather not have to beat any of them to get in. That Houston game will haunt us all spring if we don't get in.

Why trade for Clowney? Wait till his contract runs out, and steal him from the Texans as a FA like we did with Mario Williams.

Houston wanted bookend DEs so teams couldn't double team Watt. As if Watt is having problems. Even without Clowney I think Watt's the defensive player of the year. Now, put Mack into the LBs and Houston really could have a dominant front seven. This isn't just Monday morning QBing. I saw a lot of pre-draft shows discussing whether Clowney or Mack should be the top overall pick. And about the idea that the Bills could have drafted another WR and kept their first rounder for next year, that really is Monday morning QBing. The Bills have the demonstrated capability to pick the wrong player. Year after year they get people who don't turn into much while lower picks develop into stars. I'll take the Watkins bird in the hand, and give up the pick next year.

The fans in Dallas probably feel the same way about Kyle Orton as we do about Byrd. Orton was on their team, then he wasn't, and another team scarfed him up and paid him big bucks but no compensation to the losing franchise. Orton worked the system as a good progressive would approve of, for once showing how labor can beat management in contract negotiations, then signing on where he wanted to work. Byrd worked the system by faking his plantar fascitus or whatever the invisible, undetectable, convenient injury is called. He didn't get injured during the games he stabbed his teammates in the back while not playing, and when he did play enough games for the season to count toward his benefits, he still made it clear to management that no offer was going to be good enough. Or Parker did. The threat of another plantar flareup was enough to keep the Bills from tagging him. Anyway, I would trade Byrd for Orton in a heartbeat, so as things balance out, we came out ahead.

Do the math. The AFC has a lot of decent teams this year, and 10 wins will be needed for a playoff spot. The Bills need to win the next four, plus Oakland, to get to 10 wins. Or, if they lose any of those games, beat the Pats, Broncos, or Packers. Hmmm. The KC game is not a must-win but almost is one. If the Bills lose to KC because Orton doesn't have time to throw, the season is almost over anyway. That Houston game is looming larger every week. Fred Jackson has only a couple years left, max. He wants to get to the playoffs before he retires. He will play if he possibly can.

1. The Bills have the best starting QB playing now, that they've had since Jim Kelly retired. In 1996. EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO. 2. He is not as good as Jim Kelly, but ... see above. 3. Ryan Fitzpatrick was a serviceable QB who could win some games and who was better than anyone the Bills had since Jim Kelly retired. Orton is better. Let's be happy for Fitz that he's still employed and gets to play sometimes, and be glad we've got Orton.

Why so much hate for a guy who got injured? He's a talented athlete who the Bills took a shot with. They couldn't wait around till he got healthy, but if he's OK now, why shouldn't he sign with another club?

It's gotta be tough to be a really good athlete, almost but not quite good enough for the NFL, always on the bubble, but not willing to give up the dream. Roosevelt must be thinking about calling it quits. Best of luck to him. I think he's always given his full effort, but there are just too many guys a little better. At least he's got his memories of being on the team, getting into a real NFL game, and will have stories to tell his grandchildren.

The 64 team was better. Any team with Cookie Gilchrist was better. My understanding is that it was Saban who got fed up with Gilchrist's antics, and not Wilson, who wanted him gone. Also note that Gilchrist had only one good year left after he was traded so maybe Saban figured he'd sell high.

The fish beat the Chargers because Rivers stunk. The Miami defense helped him stink but it was largely an individual effort. Also the SD defense was getting beat by ordinary players making ordinary plays, not by superstars making amazing plays. This was SD's third loss in a row. Something has come off the rails for the Chargers. Miami is looking good, no question, but they happened to hit a wounded opponent when their own game peaked. It happens.

What a great argument to be able to have. I think all four of them, including Hughes, as well as Wynne and Charles, are all being given the chance to shine, since the guys surrounding them are all good. No weak links, no soft spots. However the other way to read this is that they'd all be less effective if they were the only good lineman on some other team, and the other team could game plan for him. So who would be great in that situation? MW would keep playing hard but would be double teamed to death. KW was actually in that situation with the Bills before MW and MD arrived, and while the league recognized his ability, the fans didn't, because he was negated. Only MD, in my opinion, would hold up as the stud among twigs, if he were in that situation. He can beat double teams and still disrupt plays. He's finally arrived after a couple of years of waiting, and what a force he is.

TJ Graham made TJ Graham worthless... This.

You ready for that pass rush, Bills Mafia? You can take that question two ways. Are we ready to see the Bills pass rush dominate the Chiefs? Or, are we ready to see the Chiefs pass rush against our bad O-line. Either way it will be a good day for the sack stats on both teams. Boy I hope Fred Jackson is ready to return.

The Bills have four winnable games coming up before the December gauntlet. Good teams win the games they're supposed to, and they compete and win sometimes in their tough games. The only letdown so far this year was the Houston game, which I still fear will be the difference. If the Bills are 9-3 at the end of November, which is entirely realistic, they have a very good chance because they'll have beaten their direct WC competition with games against four other teams remaining.

The Chiefs are almost as inconsistent as the Jets. The Jets looked better playing in Foxboro the week before they played the Bills, than the Broncos did last night. Then the Jets went out and were a trash fire against the Bills, in NJ. Then they played pretty well yesterday. It must be an oddsmaker's nightmare to set the line for Jets games. The Chiefs are also up and down. They destroyed the Pats then found it hard to get out of their own way. Last year they were a pick six on a stupid play, and a fumble recovery on a stupid play, away from losing to the hapless Bills while on their way to a great season record. Who knows what team shows up on Sunday. The Bills OTOH are pretty consistent. They were about the same quality the first four games, trending gradually downward to the Texans game. Since Orton took over, they've been at the same B+ level every game, which has been good enough for three wins but not to beat the Pats. If they keep getting B+ play they'll finish 9-7, unless they chance into playing a better team when that other team has a bad day.

The storyline from last night's game will be that Brady beat Manning, which he usually does. But Brady does not play defense. I think Belichick spends days and days in the off-season working up new defensive schemes specifically to stop Manning. Manning is Belichick's white whale, except unlike Ahab, Belichick usually wins. Brady played very well last night. No surprise there, he's a great QB. I don't think Denver does anything special to try to stop him, which is a serious mistake. Also I do agree that the Pats tend to get away with penalties that other teams get called for, but that's not the difference between the teams. The difference is coaching. As much as I dislike Belichick, I have to acknowledge he's a great coach.

Schwartz. Partly because he's a great DC and was a good HC, and partly to take him away from us. I would rather see the NJJs take a coordinator away from the Pats, of course.

Style points don't count. Margin of victory doesn't count except sometimes in tiebreakers. What counts is winning the game you're playing, and positioning yourself to win later games. Also, very few injuries came from this game. Another advantage to the boring, conservative approach.

The point is, they were playing the Vikes and the Jets. I assume Hackett has plays ready to go that he doesn't want to reveal to opponents until he needs them. So he went boring and conservative, and bled the clock away against the Jets, and turned things over to the defense to win. Worked out. The question is, can they raise their game when they're playing a better team? Everyone is assuming that because they didn't do more against the Jets, that they couldn't have done more. Remember back to the preseason when they looked like a trash fire, and everyone was panicking. Then they went to Chicago and beat the Bears. Perhaps we should consider that the Bills are approaching games professionally, as opportunities to win with the least cost and without giving any edge to future opponents.

How many points? Enough to win. Box checked.