dpberr

Acquiring Sam Young and getting Roosevelt back into the fold are two sound moves. I'm glad to see them.

I think watching the Bills defense this weekend will make you think you're watching the Bills defense of the early 90s. It's full of pissed off players all with something to prove and it's being run by one of the bigger off-season acquisitions in the league in Dave Wannstedt.

My offense pick: Ryan Fitzpatrick. I feel this is the year he'll cement himself as the franchise quarterback. The continuity with the staff and receivers bodes well for a successful season. My defense pick: Nick Barnett. Provided he's healthy, he'll produce similar to 2007. 100+ tackles, few sacks, couple interceptions. The 2011 defense personnel mirrors, and in some ways, improves upon, the 2007 Packers defense.

I always got the impression that for whatever reason, cheating on your wife is one thing, and cheating on your wife who's pregnant is another, crossing a very big line for those in the media and the NFL. Little doubt in my mind he's being blacklisted by both.

The Comeback is my vote. Blockbuster game. One of the best in the game's history.

Tom Nutten John H. Davis

Manning is in that territory now of wondering if football is worth it. Spinal surgery is like doing a pull on a car frame. It's never quite the same. It's slightly weaker than it was. If you're Manning, do you wonder if you're one hit away from very serious injury that doesn't last a week or a season, but a lifetime? He's made a ton of money, and has a future in broadcasting and media after football.

They will be the Spurs of the NFL. Bad enough just one year to draft another once in a generation player. Without Manning, the Colts aren't that good.

Overall, I'm not sure any team knows what it has until the second game. That being said, considering the run defense is what led to many of the 12 losses last year, and the upgrades to it, I'd say yes, the Bills are improved. I don't see teams running on the Bills like they did last year.

He better make it to the practice squad.

The Bills and Titans both surprise this year and have another showdown in Nashville in the playoffs on January 8, 2012.

At ESPN, lazy journalism gets you the same paycheck as putting effort into writing a story. So why not just go the lazy route? Clayton has been mailing it in for years now. Research is hard.

I don't think anybody knows what they've got until the second week of the regular season. Preseason is all about experimenting with different players, plays, schemes, line calls, etc and trying not to give away regular season strategy to the battalion of opposing team operatives there filming the game and taking notes about what they see. First week of the regular season, every player on every team is stoked just to be out there and gives 150% effort. Second week games, things "settle" a little.

I've been impressed with Aiken and Heard.

My vote is for Corey McIntyre, although I'd hate it. I think Chris Kelsay is a possibility, especially if someone pops up on the waiver wire that is better suited in the 3-4.

Too bad he plays center. He's not cut out to be a guard. He was moved from the guard position, where he wasn't all that great to center, where he flourished in the 2006 season. It'd be counterproductive to move Wood from center at this point. That'd only mess up Fitzpatrick and the o-line as a whole as that position makes the line calls and adjustments. The preseason continuity in this instance outweighs any benefit from bringing in a new guy. It's probably the last position you want to tinker with with only a game left in preseason.

No team in the NFL has *addressed* their offensive line. Half the NFL has offensive lines that are marginal to barely adequate in quality. (See Ravens, Baltimore/Eagles, Philadelphia, Patriots, New England for starters) Those teams have worse lines than the Bill with more at stake. Those teams will only go as far in the playoffs (which they expect to make) as their offensive lines keep the QB from being massacred.

We're really in a no-win situation. The Patriots are a team in decline, and while it's been slight, and there will be no catastrophic drop-off, the team is coming back to the AFC pack. Dynasties are circular in shape. The time on top is brief, at most a decade in the NFL. You spend the rest of your time either declining to the bottom or progressing to the top. The Patriots have been at the top for a decade. They don't have much left in the tank. So, if we win, I see the media narrative shaping up to read the Bills win is evidence of a Patriots decline more than evidence of an improving Bills team. I think the Bills need to pull off victories over NE and NY before the media would take notice.

Outside of the starters, Kamar Aiken has been one of the more impressive players at camp fighting for a spot. I hope the Bills keep him. Never can have too many big, strong receivers.

No way. He's a turnstile. A very big part of why Flacco was getting either killed or running for his life this preseason. He really wouldn't be an upgrade.

Can you imagine the haul you'd get if you had the #1 in the 2012 draft and wanted to trade it?

A question. Who are the "Toronto" businessmen? I don't see Scotiabank (involved in the trust that operates Rogers Corp.) being interested whatsoever in buying an NFL team when they have to contend with owning a nearly unprofitable baseball team.

I like Lee, but let's wait until the games count and where there is some defensive planning and strategy outside of running the base defense before finalizing the bronze for Canton.

Is the Buffalo area better off with an NFL team? Answer is yes. I look at the Bills from two points of view...as a football team and as a business. As a business, it's employed thousands of people during its tenure and been an important part of the Buffalo economy. On the field, sure, it's had an extended down period, but all businesses, including the NFL team, have periods of downturn.

I stopped at "can't handle Chiefs running attack". Meh. While the Chiefs gained 274 yards on the ground in the game last year, that was against the 2010 defense in overtime, without Dareus, Merriman, Barnett, Davis, and now Morrison. Also in preseason, for what it's worth, the defense has been good against the run in both games. I won't make a prediction until I see the final roster, September 10. Lots of cuts and two preseason games yet to be played.