starrymessenger

Bills will draft Christian Ponder in the second (if he is there) filling a bigger need with their first pick.

Whenever this teanm has looked good this year, and it has looked very good at times in spite of its losing record, it has largely been due to R. Fitzpatrick (no doubt with an assist from the HC and QB coach). He is 28 years old and may be coming into his own. He knows how to read a defense. Yes, he has a strong arm. Stevie's drop was perfectly placed and in the air about 60 yards. His throws on slant patterns are so hot they got Hardy cut and earned Troy an intercept in the Steelers game. His accuracy is improving. He shows the kind of leadership you see in elite QBs, Rivers, Roethlisberger...(not saying he is in that class of QB of course) I for one would like to see if he is developing and what he could do with a better supporting cast.

I would be wary of Luck. He appears to have the right intangibles, no question. However, I don't like his long ball (not as bad as Clausen's ducks at ND but of the same ilk) and his throws do not seem to me to have the tight spiral you want to see in a weather beaten place like Buffalo. His short to medium range passes are accurate but I remember Mike Mayock raving about Trent Edwards' ability to drop it in a breadbasket when he was drafted. Sure he plays in a pro set offence and is making NFL reads, but he has been intensively coached up by a former pro bowl QB, so although he may have a head start in terms of being NFL ready there is no guarantee that when at the next level his performance will be NFL excellent. Being "ready" is fine but what you want is a player who will be able to improve his game at the next level - K. Williams being a good example. I would take Sam Bradford over Luck 100% of the time (although I agree the comparison is flawed because we have seen what Bradford can do).

Its true of any position in pro football that physical ability is not enough, but it is especially true of the quarterback position. I think Vince Young has all the God given ability needed to be a very good NFL quarterback and unlike Jamarcus I don't think that he is a weak willed fat slob rip of artist. I think he has a competitive mindset and the will to win. Unfortunately IMO he also has the maturation age of a high strung spoiled teenager. As long as that is the case he will never be able to lead an NFL team. Ryan Fitzpatrick is a leader who has the respect of his teammates.

Cant agree more with your comment re Dez Bryant. What a playmaker. To think that people questioned his fitness at the combine. What a joke.

And don't forget Donnie Avery and Eddie Royal, two other smurfs in the same draft that have outperformed the busts.

He can rush the passer from time to time (if he lines up with his hands in the dirt). Problem is he can't tackle the passer. The comedy begins when he actually gets there. Always good for a laugh.

Ha Ha. Love it. Sort of reminds me of the time the Russian hockey team was playing an exhibition game in Minny. They were guests at a Vikings game against the Cowboys. Victor Tikonov, their coach, was asked at half time what he thought of American football. He said he loved "the fast little ones, for whom the big one's pave the way". During the second half the Russians, who were all wearing these gigantic bearskin hats from Mars, were milling around behind the Cowboys bench. Tikonov walked up to Tony Hill and said "you must nbe one of the fast little ones", to which Hill replied "who the f#ck are you."

If he did that he was wrong to do so. Cleo Lemons can't even play for the Toronto Argonauts. Maybe Solly's gotten better in the last four years.

Correct. Or maybe on or off this team.

Agreed, he gets toungue twisted at times. A good guy though IMO.

You are right. He will give credit where it is due. He is also a good student of the game, watches a lot of film, generally thinks before he opens his mouth, etc..Pretty decent commentator.

Camera caught him laughing it up on the side-lines after his multiple game changing f@ck ups on Sunday. Wonder if thats part of what Chan was refering to when he said he found something out (something I assume that he did not like) about his team. There are lots of fabulous athletes which no rebuilding (and most rebuilt) team should touch with a bargepoll, albeit perhaps all for different reasons - Albert "Fat Boy" Haynesworth, Randy "Headcase" Moss, Terrell "Spaceman" Owens, and maybe, just maybe, Leodis "Monsieur Le Gaf" McKelvin.

Athletic talent.

Unlike Lombardi and Brian Baldinger, he said the Vikes would beat the Bills, instead of vice-versa. Gee, maybe he's not so dumb after all!

I guess they decided to do this rather than just cut him (as was rumoured) to stop him from going to a contender and maybe getting to play in a superbowl. What kind of message would Shanny be giving his team then?

The Pats are a wonderful football organization from top to bottom, and are deserving of the utmost respect for their excellence and remarkable achievement. It probably all starts with Robert Kraft, who understands that being in the football business is to a large extent also being in the people business and his personnel decisions have proven that he is very, very good at it. Bellichek is a great coach and has developed a very successful system, notably of course on the offensive side of the ball. Brady is one of the best ever at his position, but he also has the benefit of a truly wonderful OLine and a high percentage system/gameplan that any number of less gifted QBs would be successful in. Its a copycat league so lets try to emulate the things they do right. Just love it the way everybody knows pretty much exactly what they are going to do, and just can't stop them. But knowing what they will do suggests to me that they can be gameplanned, and can be stopped. I think the Charger's defence might well b up to the task. Perhaps we will get to see. Having said all that, I don't want Tom Brady to retire or go down with injury. I want him to play, or attempt to play, to the best of his formidable ability. And I want to clean his friggin clock. I have a lot of confidence in Chan and Buddy, and I for one believe we will get there.

Sigh. Thanks for all the laughs.

McKelvin has awesome talent but is accident prone. We've all known accident prone people. They cannot change. It is their nature. If that is the right assessment, its really only a matter of time before Chan benches him.

McKelvin has absolutely awesome physical talent. Unfortunately he is also clearly clumsy/accident prone. What worries me is that some folks are just like that, curious as it may seem its almost a personality trait and therefore next to impossible to correct. Hope thats not the case with Leodis.

Right. I've heard some perrenial and some part time Bills bashers (Lombardi, Dukes, King, Baldinger) all say how much they actually enjoywatching Bills games. Never thought I would live o see that. Fact is, win or lose the Bills are one of the most fun teams to watch these days and although I generally don't like talking heads to their credit they have all over this as a developing story, which as media folks is exactly what they should be doing.

Exactly right, and they will not get a new stadium because the ratepayers (including this one), who ended up financing most of the Rogers Centre, won't be taken again.

All I know is that I would hate to be on the business end of those haymakers Johnson was throwing at Courtland Finnegan.

A funny trance-like feeling came over me. All was still. Suddenly I heard a deep voice, maybe God, maybe Lucifer. The voice said "THATS WHY SO SERIOUS STEVIE". Then I remembered something Solomon Willcots said earlier about how Chan Gailey was saying the night before the big game how much he liked Steve Johnson but how he needed to work on his concentration and staying focussed through 60 minutes of football. I started to feel better because this confirmed my belief that Chan was a really good football coach. Then I saw Hangartner congratulating Fitz and I started to laugh out loud. Then I went and changed my underwear.

Correct. Avoiding big hits is smart. But there is no getting away from the fact that football is the premier contact sport and sometimes you have to sacrifice the body to get things done, otherwise you are underperforming. Just another reason Andre Reed should be in the HOF.