Utah John

My only complaint about Whitner when he was with the Bills was, he never wrapped up tackles. He always tried to knock people down with his shoulders or helmet, and he missed tackles and gave up extra YAC as a result. When I see the 49ers play now, he's doing the same thing. I guess that's how he was taught to play.

Watch it again and see the offensive holding on the guy next to Knighton. Apparently Patriot O-linesmen have different rules. That went uncalled all day long.

I'd like to watch those two teams but with a set of referees that were also watching those two teams. That was the worst ref performance I can ever remember.

Instead of referring to failed Jim Kelly replacements by name, we should just number them by when they served time with the Bills (not "played"). Rob Johnson and Doug Flutie would have low numbers, Billy Joe Hobert would follow soon after, Edwards and Losman and van Pelt and Fitz and Bledsoe would each have a number. Using the numbers would be quicker and more efficient, and would minimize the nausea I get from seeing these names in print.

McCargo wasn't worth a first round pick, but he was a decent player who was injured and then fell out of favor during the coaching carousel. George Edwards tried to run a 3-4 without the right skill set. I don't think the 3-4 was his idea. I think Gailey thought it would be better, based on what I don't know. In any event, he'll probably work out OK for MIN.

Wilson and Kaepernick are both very good players who play at the level of the rest of their teams. They don't put their teams on their backs and get them through a tough game like Brady and P Manning do. I think for a few more years the more interesting QB rivalries will be Foles v RGIII, and Brees v Newton.

Bill Walsh invented the West Coast Offense. Belichek has not been an innovator but he's been able to win consistently despite injuries and retirements that would have crushed others. Shula was a great Xs and Os guy and always won, in Baltimore and Miami. Lombardi was a great leader as was Joe Gibbs (the first time). Marv Levy was really good for only about 5 years, not in the same class as the others. Jimmy Johnson was an arrogant jerk who rode a great roster without innovating -- not in the same class as Landry or Shula, two guys he got reckless stupid owners to fire so they could hire him. Note the common denominator of the great coaches. Great QBs. I wonder if there's a connection?

In 10 years time, the top three QBs of all time will all have been Colts, and the question will be what order do you put Unitas, Manning, and Luck on your list. By then, Manning will have won at least one more SB with the Broncos, and Luck will have won three. It ain't fair, I tell ya. My list of top non-Colt QBs is -- Marino -- Montana -- Brady -- Brees -- Favre (I don't care if he kept playing too long, he was amazing for a long time) -- Elway I don't put Warner on the list because he wasn't amazing for very long. I might put Kelly on the list but I have a hard time evaluating him against the others because I saw him play much more and make more mistakes. Also the Bills offense was really stacked, as was the 49ers offense when Montana played. Steve Young didn't start long enough in the NFL. Bradshaw? To quote Hollywood Henderson, Bradshaw is so dumb he couldn't spell cat if you spotted him the c and the a. Fouts? I wouldn't object but won't advocate for him. Didn't see him enough. Y.A. Tittle was great for his day too but I don't know if he'd make it now. Same with Sammy Baugh. NOT: Staubach, Aikman, Bledsoe, Starr, Stabler, Lamonica, Tarkenton, though you can probably find advocates for all of them.

It's odd watching Kiko play. His body type makes him look like a safety. Then you see him standing next to the D-linesmen and he's taller than they are. I think he could add a little weight and be just as fast and quick, and a little better against the run, but what will really make him even better than this year is experience. His main flaw this year was that he guessed wrong on gap assignments sometimes and took himself out of plays. When he fixes that, he's going to be fantastic.

Byrd's style of play relies more on smarts and study than on physical aggression. He knows the tendencies of the opponents and often "just happens" to be where the ball is thrown -- yeah right. He's where he is because he knows where to go. Except for his foot problems he's also likely to last a lot more years than the kamikazes playing safety for other teams. If the Bills can re=sign him they should do what it takes.

Driesbach is taking the fall for all the times Kiko guessed wrong on which gap to attack, leaving no one in the middle of the field to stop gash runs by the other team. The Bills have one good LB, Kiko, and one OK LB, Lawson. No other real talent. (Hughes is a pass rusher, not a LB.) I'm thinking the Bills take a LB in the 1st round and sign a FA LB. That plus two guards and they'll be in business.

Denver and Seattle. That's been the call since the middle of the regular season, and the top seeds and home field advantage seal the deal. I don't think anyone can go into their home fields and beat them in a playoff game.

In the Bills glory days, John Madden was the most influential person regarding how players were regarded. He focused on NFC players, and in truth the NFC generally was better. AFC teams were noticed by most people only during the playoffs and the SB. Reed had great games in the playoffs and SB but so do a lot of people who don't have great corresponding careers to go along. My point is he was not noticed much by most people. The reason a lot of Bills are in the HOF, besides being worthy, is Larry Felser. Felser was very well respected within the community of sportswriters, and when he told them Billy Shaw was a great guard, they believed him. There's no one with Felser's credibility covering the Bills or advocating for the former players anymore. I think if Reed was going to make it, it would have been during the time when Felser was still active. Then I get thinking and wonder why Reed DIDN'T make it while Felser was active. Maybe Felser didn't think in his own personal opinion that Reed was really that special, and he the other writers picked that up. Or maybe it's not quite so bad, maybe Felser just thought a lot of other ex-Bills deserved it more than Reed, and he supported them instead. The point being, I don't think Reed will ever get in unless he gets an advocate or he does something else to get his name noticed. If after he retired, he'd taken communications classes and gotten on the air as a color announcer, that might have helped. It separated Dan Dierdorff from the pack of really good O-lineman and got him in. It hasn't worked for Steve Tasker which is a shame but that was Tasker's only shot. My personal opinion is that Reed deserves to get in. He was the second best receiver in the game for a few years, and since the number one guy was Jerry Rice, the best ever, you can't hold that against Reed. He finished #2 in receptions, for Pete's sake. He dominated games and was a consistent part of the juggernaut. I'm just afraid that while the Bills were doing their thing, not that many people were paying attention. My the way, the notion that a player must have been on a SB winning team to get in is silly. If Norwood made his kick, how would that make Reed a better player?

The common denominator among the forward lateral, no goal, and wide right is: the Buffalo team screwed up. Sorry, all were bad calls, but all would not have been issues if the Buffalo players had done their jobs. No goal. Hull was in a dangerous position just in front of Hasek. A Sabre, whose name I can't remember, could have knocked Hull over and eliminated the scoring opportunity, but instead tried to poke check the puck away. He dislodged the puck, causing Hull to lose control (and since his foot was in the crease should have invalidated the goal that followed) but he did NOT end the play. Wide right. Of course Norwood missed the kick, but it was a tough kick on grass so he's only partly to blame. The Bills' defense played terribly throughout the game, probably hung over despite Marv Levy denying it. The Giants had two incredibly long drives made possible by inability to make basic tackles. The offense was great but was on the field for only about 20 minutes. The Music City Miracle. If the Bills had stayed in their lanes and covered the kickoff properly, the pass back across the field wouldn't have worked. Yes, I agree it was an illegal forward pass, but if the Bills had done their job it wouldn't have mattered.

I think Byrd wants to get paid, and he wants to win. If he doesn't believe the organization is committed to winning and is capable of winning, it won't matter what he's offered, he'll walk. I don't blame him. If the Bills don't end the Toronto fiasco, it's a clear sign they don't care about winning, just padding Ralph's estate and the bank account of his evil beancounter, Jeff Littman. I think Spiller when healthy is a very good RB. The part where he carries the ball is where he excels. He doesn't do so well at blocking. He also doesn't stay healthy, even though he splits duty with Jackson. And when he's not healthy, he's not even ordinary. He doesn't run well enough between the tackles, and if he's not 100% he doesn't outrun LBs to the corner. I like having him on the team but if there's anyone thinking we should keep him instead of Byrd, please stop that. Byrd is an elite player, Spiller is a Chris Johnson wannabe who has never shown the potential to dominate. Dareus is a very good player too but has underperformed. Maybe his part-game benchings will get his attention and give him some focus. There are a lot of DTs out there who play as well as Dareus has played; most do not have his potential, but I think the Bills should pay based on performance and not potential.

IMHO Marrone pitched DR to establish his own authority in the locker room. It's part of the culture change that's underway, and it might have been a high price to pay but it had to be paid. If DR came around as a rookie next year, now that Marrone is firmly in control, he might have kept him and worked on the molding clay business. As it is, we gave up DR plus Tashard Choice to the Colts for nothing, but they along with Kelvin Sheppard are still not as good as Jerry Hughes all by himself.

I remember that offensive holding used to be a 15 yard penalty. That was in the 60s. I don't know when it was changed to 10 yards but the reason given was that it killed too many drives, and the league wanted more offensive action and scoring.

Yes, the Bills let Wade go. They also let Bill Polian go. Also John Butler. I think Ralph went a little crazy in the early 90s and was bent on demonstrating his authority. Later on his flunky beancounter (Jeff Littman) took control, and the sinking ship was doomed.

I do agree that the rules about completed passes being ruled incomplete if the receiver doesn't "complete the process" whatever that means, need to be changed. If the receiver has possession (control of the ball) and takes a couple of steps, that should be a catch. The Calvin Johnson rule is just crazy.

I think it's more accurate to say that Dalton's team took him to the playoffs, not the other way around. Granted, with a QB of Dalton's capabilities, the Bills would have made the playoffs this year. So what, so we could be one and done like the Bengals? We should be thinking about the real goal, winning the SB. I think EJ has much more upside and has the potential to take the Bills a lot further than Dalton can take the Bengals. With that team around Dalton, there was no excuse for not winning today.

The Chiefs have been over-rated all year. The Bills pushed them all over the field until Tuel screwed up. I take the Colts at home One team playing in Philly has Drew Brees and the other doesn't. Saints. Bengals. The Chargers usually weren't hitting on more than 5 cylinders out of 8 all year, at best. Cinci at home, with their good defense and the cold weather playing mind games with the Chargers. Packers due to the weather in a close call. It's going to be a night game with temperatures at least 15 degrees below zero. Under less extreme conditions I would take the 49ers. This one could go the other way because passing will be so limited, so Kaepernick's mobility could turn into the decisive factor.

I think it's ironic that Powell's bad punts helped us lose to Cincinnati, which signed him and lost a game because of him. Like second marriages, it's the triumph of hope over experience, and looking too much at potential and not enough about what's real.

Here's a stat I would like to see. Compare the average yards rushing per game for each of the Bills opponents this year prior to playing the Bills, with the number of rushing yards they got against the Bills. Except for the second Miami game, when the Fish stupidly never really tried to establish the run, I think the Bills always gave up more rushing yards. Every team with a rushing disorder got healthy by playing Buffalo. Sacks and interceptions are really important in today's passing-mad NFL, but if you can't stop the run you can't win consistently.

Up to 2000 I was posting regularly as John in CA. Then I was John in VA. Then I stopped posting until recently, but I was lurking until I finally got reactivated. Anyway by far my favorite poster was Dean. Really good insights. I liked Lori too. I think there are a lot of good posters on now. I skip past the insults and ad hominem attacks, and I learn a lot about college players and other teams from the other posters.

I don't see what good it does for the Bills to have $20M+ spare room under the cap next year, freeing up space by not signing Byrd. They were far under the cap this year and didn't use the money. The whole thing is about bleeding the Bills to enrich Ralph's kids before he passes.