hondo in seattle

San Jose Bills Fan, this is a good response. You presented compelling facts to back up your argument. I learned something reading this.

I thought we only talked draft this early in the season when we start 0-3, not 3-0.

I agree. And it's not new in any case.

Wow! Silver has the Bills #2 in his Power Rankings. That's the highest I've seen.

Welcome to the board and thanks for sharing the pics. Heard from another Pats fan that the Bills fans were unwelcoming in Orchard Park. I wonder what his expectation were. I've worn Bills shirts to games in Miami and San Francisco in years past. The Miami fans gave me lots of grief which is as is should be. The 49er fans simply ignored me. Not a single challenging word or middle finger. It was a bit odd. Their ambivalence seemed very un-fan like. Glad you had a great time at the Ralph. Maybe one day we can save you from your Patriots disease and convert your to Billsmania.

Thanks Scrappy. That's probably how I found it.

Tim, the WSJ - of all publications - had a nice piece about the Bills offensive scheme. It was more insightful than most of the stuff I read about the Bills. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204422404576595233381220172.html

San Jose Bills Fan, Ummm.... Apparently you didn't get the Leslie Nielsen joke. Brett, thanks for stopping by and tell Corey that we Bills fans appreciate him and all the Bills leaving it all out on the field every Sunday. Go Bills!

I agree with this wholeheartedly.

+1

True enough that we're only a couple plays from being 1-2. But - not to nitpick - I think the Pats scored a TD anyway on the drive where Ochocinco dropped the pass so it was really a non-event. The bigger point is that most games come down to a couple key plays. Last year we lost 5 games by 5 points or less. We lost 3 in OT to playoff teams. So what? We still lost. The better team makes fewer mistakes. I don't know what the rest of the season has in store for us. But our offense seems capable and right now we deserve to be 3-0. As for your stock analogy, if the Bills keep winning, the stock price will only go up. Which, of course, wouldn't be a bad problem to have. But I'd gamble and buy now before that happens. Go Bills!

Good avatar! Never saw this logo before.

Not a perfect analogy but certainly some very interesting parallels. Thanks for sharing Rube. Someday would love to hear your story and we'll all agree to leave the embarrassment/pity at the door. If Chan becomes anywhere near as successful as Levy and if Fitz becomes even close to as good as Kelly, I'll be one ecstatic fan.

After growing up in Cheektowaga, I've lived in or near Atlanta, San Francisco/Oakland, St. Louis, Indianapolis, and Seattle. None of these places are remotely like Buffalo when it comes to love for the hometown team.

This is a funny award for the best fantasy football player. I'd rather have Fitz win the Bert Bell award. NEW JERSEY, September 27, 2011 / — RotoExperts, the leader in original Sports / Fantasy Sports content and the Maxwell Football Club, the oldest football organization in America, announced today that they will be presenting an annual NFL Fantasy Player of the Year Award. The “RotoExperts NFL Fantasy Player of the Year Award, presented by the Maxwell Football Club,” will be given to the most outstanding player as voted by members of the Maxwell Football Club, providing an accurate and insightful assessment of the value of the NFL’s top Fantasy player. Members include NFL Head Coaches, General Managers, Owners, selected Sportswriters and Sportscasters, among others. This will be the 15th award presented annually by the Maxwell Football Club, who are presenters of the most prestigious football awards in the country each year. Some of the Club’s other well known awards are: Maxwell Award: Top college football player in the nation. (2010 winner, Cam Newton, Auburn) Chuck Bednarik Award: Best defensive player in college football (2010 winner, Patrick Peterson, LSU) Joeseph V. Paterno Award: College coach who best embodies football success, academic excellence and community service (2010 winner, Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech) Bert Bell Award: Top player in the NFL (2010 winner, Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles) Earl “Greasy” Neal Award: Top head coach in the National Football League (2010 winner Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles)

No one knows the future. Let's just enjoy the journey. Right now, the view is beautiful. If you really need to think about the future, forget the Bills 2008 season or the Bronco's 6-0 start. I mean, who really knows? The Bills could go 0-13 the rest of the way or 13-0. Probabilities, however, are on our side. Something like 72% of 3-0 teams eventually make the playoffs. So if you have to contemplate the Bills final record, think optimistically because the odds are in our favor. Personally, I'm still basking in the afterglow of the Pats win. I'll worry about Cinci on Sunday and the playoffs much later on.

I wish Fitz had a stronger arm and was more consistently accurate (especially on his deep balls). But I still voted for him as our franchise QB. The offense is purring like a well-oiled machine and it's largely because of him. He's been accurate enough on the pass plays the Bills run for the Bills to average 38 points a game. He understands the offense, knows how and when to audible, even draws up new routes in the huddle. He's unfazed by bad luck and lopsided scores. He gives credit to his teammates who seem to respond really positively to him. His quick release is perfect for this offense. All-in-all, I am very pleased with Fitz. According the the QBR ratings, he's the second-best QB in the NFL right now. How could anyone be unhappy with him?

You are right that with each passing year, Adre's stats look less and less spectacular. But I think all the selectors understand that you can't compare passing and receiving stats from one era to another. Unfortunately, Reed was on the front end of the passing revolution and some say his own numbers were inflated by the offense the Bills ran. Reed's not a receiver from the old-old days when 1,000 receiving yards in a season was virtually unimaginable. What can't be argued is that Reed went to a whole bunch of Pro Bowls. He was considered one of the very best in the game for a long time. In my mind, 7 Pro Bowls = HOF, though there are a few other players who have been to the Pro Bowl just as often and are still waiting for Canton to call. Reed will be the only Bill on this list to make the final 15. Hopefully he'll actually end up enshrined this time but I wouldn't be surprised to see him as a bridesmaid once again.

The Bills haven't been to the playoffs since before the Ides of March when Caesar still ruled. It's been a really long time so the reluctance to embrace the Bills is understandable. So far the Bills have only proved that they have a lot of fight in them and an offense that can light up a scoreboard. They have not shown themselves to be a dominant team that can win in all three phases of a game. If we go just 2-2 in our next 4 games but then beat the Jets in November, the media will take us seriously as a force in the AFCE.

Bills 23 Bengals 13 Cinci's offense isn't nearly as potent as Oakland's or NE's so the Bills Defense will finally get a chance to look good. Cinci's D is okay and the Bills Offense won't press as hard to score so the Bills will put up 'only' twenty something points. All of which will make the Bills 4-0. Go Bills!

Fitz is near-perfect for this offense. He reads defenses really well, makes quick decisions, and is accurate with short to medium length passes. He also understands the offense really well. The receivers also fit the offense well. Chan's receivers don't need to be really fast because we don't run a lot of deep passes. Gailey likes short-to-mid-range stuff, often creating traffic issues for DBs (unofficial picks). So we need receivers who run good routes and have good hands. Quickness rather than top-end speed is more important so Roscoe and Stevie fit perfectly. In a crowd (Gailey often sends 4 and 5 people out), it also helps to be a big target like Nelsen or Chandler. Gailey had a clear vision of the kind of offense he wanted to run. We're seeing that vision now. Guys who didn't fit that vision (Trent Edwards, Lee Evans, Marshawn Lynch) were cut or traded. Chan knew what he was doing.

I actually kind of agree with you. We've had some breaks. We could easily be 1-2 now. I was merely saying I never had much faith in the 2008 team. The 2011 team still concerns me. The defense, particularly, has some problems that need to be solves. But I have more faith in this Head Coach than I had in DJ. And while the 2008 players were probably scrappier than some of us remember, I think this team has more fight in it. So, though not yet convinced, I feel better about this team than I did about the 2008 team. We'll see.

I expect we'll blitz in games where Gailey, Wannestadt, and Edwards think our ability to blitz is better than the other team's ability to pick up the blitz. Brady and the Pats are really good at beating the blitz. The teams that have blitzed the Pats successful and made Brady uncomfortable are better pass rushing teams than the Bills are right now. I think one of the reasons that Merriman has been relatively silent so far this season is that we're not playing to his strengths. It will be interesting to see what he can do once we unleash him.

Good observation but not surprising. The Bills were 4-12 last season. We don't have any established superstars. And we didn't acquire any huge names free agents in the offseason. We've won 3 good games but people still need more convincing. I think that's understandable. If anything, I'm a bit surprised we're ranked as high as we are considering everything.