tennesseeboy

I Think we realistically lost the AFC East chances by not beating New England earlier this year. To take them down we would have had to beat them twice and hope they lost a few more over the year. I hate them, but they are probably the best football team in the AFC and maybe the best in the NFL. Further, as much as I hate them, I think it was a stretch to think we would beat them in that game. Would have been a terrific upset! All that being said, I still think we have a shot at the wild card once we heal up. Tomorrow's game is important to give us a winning record going into the bye where we heal and hopefully restructure our defensive game plan. I think Ryan promised the playoffs and I'm hoping he can deliver, but I never really thought we'd win the Division. One bizarre and unlikely possibility is the NFL actually enforcing Brady's four game suspension and the team falling apart...but I don't see that happening.

Well Sammy....lets start by you not getting yourself on the injured list every frigging week. Suit up Show up and line up and the targets will come. Two first round draft picks...Geez

A five game streak would make us 8-2.....I think that would be a pretty safe bet that we are contenders. I think if we beat Cincy ( a HUGE if) we are 4 and 2 projecting to ten wins is not a bad hope. We lost to two very good teams...(okay okay...one of them is super good...the @#$ patriots.) and beat up on pretty bad teams. I want to see a signature win and Cincy could be the win that tells us we are not pretenders. We have had some bad luck with injuries and pulled the Tennessee game out...TT played like a warrior in the end to pull it out. I just can't see justification for saying we are not contenders. Hell...we are one of six winning teams in the AFC.

I understand what you are saying and the play was beaucoup important...but I gotta go with Tyrod's 26 yard run to get a first down on that touchdown drive. There were a few big plays.

Beating Cincy would shut everyone up about whether or not we are contenders. This would be a real statement game. Also (and more important) another W on the way to 10 or more wins. Even I have to agree that the Bengals are and should be favored by any objective observer....but hell...we're not objective observers. Go Bills.

I always kind of assumed all teams did that. I also thought that all teams considered picking up one of the final cuts from a team they play twice after the last cut and pumped him for information. I thought of those things as responsible intelligence gathering. The question I guess is whether you can or want to actually forbid and or police such activity. Now sneaking into closed practices that are not open to the public might be over the line.

I'd rather they be undisciplined rather than untalented. Discipline can be worked out as we progress. Go Bills.

I remember in the summer of 65 hitchhiking out to the lake with my little brother and had my football jersey on, when a guy in a Cadillac convertible picked us up to give us a ride. Elbert Dubenion. Great guy and we appreciated the lift! My number on the jersey was the same as Cookie Gilchrist's (34) and he got a kick out telling Cookie stories.

Ditto. I am optimistic about our chances to make the playoffs. I would be even more optimistic if the pats would drop a few before we play them again. 10-6

Exactly. The team we saw yesterday had three major offensive playmakers hurt and right now we are one of six AFC teams with winning records. And we lost to a team projected to go 16 and 0 and to a very good giants team. We would need a ton of help to beat NE for the division title. But I think we are in big contention for the wild card.

went to one of those pre-season games and came home thinking Byrd and Gogolak should be cut (Pete must have missed a field goal) Thank goodness our judgments aren't based on one game. I like the idea that he was a cornerback in a linebacker's body. He was great to watch. I think the other CB was Charley "Pork Chop" Warner. And....the defensive line of Tom Day, Tom Sestack, Jim Dunaway and Ron McDole was pretty intimidating as weas the linebacking corps of Tracey, Jacobs and Stratton. That was a terrific defense. Byrd is definitely one of the most outstanding Bills. Darby is terrific and he keeps reminding folks of Byrd he is in for a great career!

Bills 24 Titans 10

Goy if Mariota is slow getting the ball away we should have a great game on defense. I suppose that assumes we'll be effective against the run game. I'm expecting the penalties to be under some control this week, and having Miller back at guard should be a plus. Pretty optimistic about this Sunday.

You might want to sit their asses down. The same guys get the same penalties over and over and are a detriment if they can't control it. Having them sit is a clear message. Some will say the back-up will cause a loss in performance, but I think the sitting for a few plays does a couple of things: 1. Gives the player a chance to cool down 2. Gives the coach a chance to "counsel" his ass 3. Gives the team the message that penalties have consequences. 4. Gives the back-up a chance to prove his capability as a starter. I remember when my son played football at Aquinas in Rochester and he made a mistake during the game and could hear the coach say his name. He stood at the center of the field for a few seconds before coming to the sideline. I asked him why he was standing there....he said he knew how pissed off the coach was and was giving thought to going to the other team's sideline. He stopped making that mistake after being grilled by the coach. Make it clear that penalties have consequences even in the press. Boobie Dixon was called out early last spring by RR for fumbling (god forbid it shows up again against the Titans) and he got better. Make it clear that stupid penalties (and a great number of ours were stupid penalties) aren't going to be tolerated.

No question that penalties are just KILLING us, particularly offensive line penalties (although we have had some very bad defensive secondary penalties too) Not being cynical but the offensive line holding calls may have something to do with some of our O-linemen just not being very good. Hard to coach height, speed or talent. I'm not too optimistic about that part of the process and suspect it will involve tinkering with the entire offensive scheme to compensate for the poor o-line play.

The last four years the Jets were a disaster, only in part because of Ryan. He has been as close to the mountaintop as head coach than any of our coaches in the last decade. He has been to the playoffs MANY more times in his tenure at the Jets as the Bills have under a group of sorry coaches who were AT LEAST given a full season (in most cases too many seasons) to prove themselves. I'm for giving Ryan he ful season to see if we can make the playoffs.

Four games into the season there is some good and some bad. Remember we are 2-2 when the expectation before the season was that we might be 1-5 by the end of game 6. We were in positions to win both of the games we lost despite what most of us would consider sub-par play through the major part of the games against the Patriots and the Giants. Now historically I have bee pretty much the first to call for coaches to be fired and most said I was being hasty. The first was Chan Gailey from the first day he was hired, Jauron from the first year, and with the last guy I was considered hasty in calling for him to take us to he playoffs or else after his second year. With Ryan we have a guy who has beaten the Patriots, has won the divisional title and gone deep into the playoffs as a head coach. He has put it out there that he expects the playoffs (division or wild card this year). He and the management have put together a pretty talented team. I am disappointed with the two losses, and acknowledge that we need a LOT of wok on the penalties and the defense seems to be a work in progress (but with a ton of talent to work with). Te big deficiency has been the same for a decade....the offensive line. While we were striking out for "jitterbugs" (Spiller according to Chan) and trading away problems (Lynch and Jennings) we should have shorn up our offensive trenches. That is one of few "work-arounds" we have on this team. Disappointed in the loss to the Giants? Yup...but 'm not in any way giving up on this team yet. The problems (other than the offensive line) seem to be things we can work around, and Incognito and Miller over the course of the season will improve O-line play to at least average. I'm still thinking playoffs.

I'm not all convinced we won't win the Eastern Division. I know, I know...New England is unstoppable, the best team that ever wore pads, Brady is Peyton Manning, Joe Montana and Johnny Unitas wrapped up in one...But I for one didn't feel that we are as bad a team as we looked in the first game we played them and when push came to shove we scored 32 points. I figure if NE loses to us in November and we keep playing well it might be a fight. If not...then the wild cards isn't a bad consolation prize!

I always had the impression that it was a rare OC or DC who would turn down a head coach position, and I suspect our guy has the interest. Money is probably not going to make him give up the opportunity. If he keeps doing a great job and takes the head coaching job good for him. Will we miss him? Yup...but life goes on. Great coaches and great players sometimes demand more than a team can give and they have to move on for professional and/or financial reasons.

It may be time to wrap him up with a contract right now if at all possible. I'm not sure we have enough cap space to sign him but he's got to be a major priority. He has proven himself in Buffalo, the team and fans have embraced him, the team is on the upswing...All things ($$) being equal I can't believe he wouldn't want to stay here.

I suspect my biggest concern is that they give up on the run too quickly. Ground and Pound is a good solid philosophy and I think we have evidence that we have the horses to provide it. Our offensive line is better run-blocking than pass-blocking. Put an effective run game on the agenda early and often and it will loosen up the pass game. Defense has to adjust to the fact that quick-release is the lesson other teams learned from New England (although none of them have a Brady to be as effective as he was) and adjust to that. Cut down on the penalties. None of these things are a stretch for this team. I see us winning this game.

I guess I'm not all that down in the dumps about the one bad game (yes it was a really BAD game) because I think the team is truly of playoff caliber, assuming Coach R. gets the house in order and disciplined...and the run game is my primary reason for my optimism. I am an advocate of the "ground and pound" theory and suspect our O-line is more geared to the run game than the pass game. (After Sunday I guess most of you are saying "Ya THINK???") The run game opens up the pass game and keeps the Brady's where they belong...off the field. The run game should be the basis of our offense going forward. I'm more concerned about the defense and am not sure what can be done. game discipline for sure, but 40 points is hard to take. It may be the defense is not up to its hype. The next few games will tell.

The line has to block better TT has to get rid of the ball faster. Keep pushing the run first mentality (the first possession was a work of art) Defense needs a lot of work. They really looked awful. Now (I hate to admit this) Tom Brady is an awesome qb but the defense really lost its composure.

I don't see the Cowboys doing anything other than going with BW. Too much to learn for a new guy and the backup looks pretty good.

Remember there were posts before the season began that we might LOSE the first three games and make the playoffs. We won the first, .lost the second and despite extremely poor play lost to the Superbowl champs by eight points and face the 1-1 Dolphins next week. Nothing to panic about. The irritating thing is that the Pats have had a lock on the Division for years and sooner or later we are going to have to beat them to get anywhere. Makes Nov. 23 a big game.