hondo in seattle

When you think back on Jim Kelly, Bruce Smith, Thurman Thomas or any other great football player, do you remember them in the prime of their careers? Or at the end of their careers after their skills had diminished? When Marv's name comes up, I prefer to remember him as the classy leader who led us to four AFC Championships and gave us countless great memories. I've been a Bills fan for 30+ years. The years when Levy was the HC were my favorite. I'm not going to criticize the guy for failed efforts to rebuild the glory of the Bills during his brief tenure as GM.

I remember someone predicting that Bledsoe was going to sign with the Bills before there was any hint of it in the press. Maybe it was SilvercRow, not sure. However, who cares if Lee asked for a trade? Asking for a trade isn't necessarily a good reason to give one. Lee was under contract. If Nix thought Evans brought value to the team - or more precisely, that his value exceeded a 4th round draft pick - Nix should have kept him. I wonder what Lee's role would have been this year. Lee's forte as a receiver was stretching the field vertically. However, Fitz's arm and (moreso) the Bills poor offensive line preclude the Bills from throwing long much. The Bills were a bad fit for Evans. Especially given Gailey's high estimation of some of our young receivers, I wonder if Lee would have had a reduced role this year. And that made him expendable.

So far I'm mostly happy with the Nix/Gailey combo. But I'm also baffled by Nix's passive approach to rebuilding the O Line (as well as trading Evans for a 4th rounder). Games are usually won and lost at the line of scrimmage.

I'm not a big fan of gadget plays either but I see what Gailey's doing. The Bills offensive line isn't good. Gadget plays might make defensive fronts a little more flat-footed, a little more hesitant. Defenses are accustomed to QBs either handing off to a RB or throwing the ball. Why not let the QB run if he can? Why not hand off to someone different? The more the defense has to think - the more observant they have to be - the less aggressive they'll be at the snap of the ball. The sad truth is that if we tried to play smash-mouth football, we'd fail. We'd lose the battle of the trenches. We need a different approach. I'm sure Gailey would love to have a QB of of Manning's or Brady's caliber. I'm sure he'd love to have a dominating O line. He doesn't. He does have some weapons though at RB and WR and backup QB. He was be negligent if he didn't find creative ways to use them. Ego? I don't think so. I think Chan's trying to find ways to win with the hand he's been dealt. Even if Chan was an egotistical guy (and I don't feel he is) the best way to feed the ego is to just win, baby.

My guess is that the people who anonymously call others "morons" on sites like this are repressed in real life and unable to express their inner frustrations. They say on the internet the things they don't dare say face-to-face. They have weak egos and suffer from "short man's syndrome" (no offense to the vertically challenged) - cutting others off at the knees to feel and appear taller. Whatever the reason, it's discourteous. Disagreeing with someone else's opinion is no reason for an ad hominem attack. Life gives us enough sh*t as it is - diseases, taxes, politicians, economic downturns, bad backs, erectile dysfunction, etc. We don't need to give each other sh*t too. Not when we're all on the same (extended) team.

This is a prediction I can get behind!

Lee, you were more than just a very talented player, you were a class act. In an era of me-first prima donna receivers, you were a great team player. I, for one, am disappointed you were traded but I wish you all the best with your new team.

If I was the GM, I wouldn't have traded Lee for a 4th round pick. Are you kidding? Most 4th rounders don't amount to much. Very few are impact players. At best they are role players, if they make the squad at all. Lee, on the other hand, was a solid starter. As "Kelly the Fair and Balanced Dog" showed in a previous post, Lee played an important role in most of Stevie's TDs. His speed and experience demanded respect. If Fitz had more time to throw deep, Lee would post better numbers. Furthermore, Lee is a positive influence in the locker room. Voted team captain five years in a row. And I wonder which veteran is going to mentor all those young wideouts now? We already had too few quality players. Now we have one less.

If I was the GM, I wouldn't have traded Lee for a 4th round pick. Are you kidding? Most 4th rounders don't amount to much. Very few are impact players. At best they are role players, if they make the squad at all. Lee, on the other hand, was a solid starter. As "Kelly the Fair and Balanced Dog" showed in a previous post, Lee played an important role in most of Stevie's TDs. His speed and experience demanded respect. If Fitz had more time to throw deep, Lee would post better numbers. Furthermore, Lee is a positive influence in the locker room. Voted team captain five years in a row. And I wonder which veteran is going to mentor all those young wideouts now? We already had too few quality players. Now we have one less.

I've failed as a parent, too. I raised my daughter in the Bay Area and my daughter became a Raiders fan. She actually laughs when the Bills lose! I guess it could be worse. She could be a Fins fan.

You say he lost his step. But Wilson says he's the fastest guy on the team. Lee still brings something: “Even though they all can get deep here and there, nobody else in the receiver corps has the speed that Lee has,” Wilson said. “That’s what makes him such an asset. He helps to give us that home-run threat on any given play, and he creates opportunities for other guys.”

I think Lee is a class act, a team leader and the best receiver on the team. I think he stretches defenses vertically which enables us to do more things underneath. I really don't want to trade Lee BUT... ... this is the one position where the Bills have excess talent. Except for possibly Stevie, none of the other WRs have trade value but the Bills seem to believe in their potential. If Gailey thinks someone else can stretch defenses, and if Nix thinks we can get something "significant" in trade, it does make sense. The Bills are not a playoff team this year. Trading a 30 year old WR for a younger OT or good draft pick might make the Bills more competitive. It was also give more opportunities to the young wideouts.

Yep! I realize a lot of my optimism this year is predicated on HOPE for the O Line. I hope Levitre and Bell get better. They're both young. It's not an unreasonable expectation. I hope Wood does really well at Center - better than Hangartner. Again, not an unreasonable expectation. I hope Urbik plays better than he ever has before. This is probably like wishing on a falling star. I hope Pears plays better than he has before. I need a couple falling stars. And a handful of turkey bones. Throw in a dozen 4 leaf clovers. Hmmm... It might have been better if Nix had signed some Offensive Linemen.

He says he was sick before camp and that's why he lost weight. He's supposedly up 10 lbs or so now from his listed weight. Just saying... Also, as I recall he did look good in preseason last year - against 3rd and 4th stringers. I might be getting prematurely senile, but I don't remember him ever looking good against anybody's starters. Let's hope for this year.

Wow... that analysis took some work. Great Job! Lee's a tremendous asset and I hope he doesn't depart via a trade.

How to win friends and influence people.

I have a different recollection of OJ's yards. OJ was the Bills in those days. Sure Fergie was a decent QB and we had some decent wideouts. But teams understood that if they stopped OJ - or even slowed him down - they would win the game. So all the game-planning against the Bills was about OJ. Sometimes ProBowl LBs would be told to spy on OJ. Their only job was to go where OJ was and make sure he didn't get a big play. Despite every effort to stop him, OJ averaged 143 yards per game in '73 and 6 yards per carry.

I think you're probably pretty accurate. I'm noticing some debatable predictions though: You cut Maybin and McCargo. You kept Mt. Jasper on the 53 man squad despite his rawness. You put Roosevelt on the Practice Squad despite the fine camp he's having. Not saying you're wrong. I'm just noticing.

One the positive side, we were 4-4 in the 2nd half of the season last year. But there are lots of question marks. On the offensive side, I'm hoping each of the starting 5 Off. Linemen plays better than they've played before. The optimist in me says it's possible. The realist says that's a lot to ask. On the defensive side, we're looking at a very different front seven. That's good because our run defense was horrible last year. But it remains to be seen if this front seven is better. How will Dareus fare as a rookie? Is Merriman healthy? I'm hoping for 10-6, expecting 8-8, and wouldn't be shocked by 6-10. But it won't be worse than that.

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/6907909/page/2/ 2. O.J. Simpson (1969-79) Before he became accused of more sinister actions, “The Juice” was an electrifying runner with unequaled explosiveness at the line of scrimmage that allowed him to use his world-class sprinter’s speed far downfield. His spectacular runs made the Buffalo Bills’ franchise so popular, the city built huge stadium in the suburb of Orchard Park. Simpson’s accomplishments – he retired No. 2 on the all-time list behind Jim Brown and has an NFL-best six 200-yard games – are more remarkable when you realize that he played mostly on poor teams. The Bills made the playoffs only once in his nine seasons and were 43-81-2. Former NFL coach George Allen said Simpson “was the best late-game running back I ever saw, even better than Brown. No one ever took a beating better.” He was hardly touched, however, early when he was – incredulously – used as a receiver, kick returner and “decoy” in his first three seasons. Simpson didn’t have a 1,000-yard season until Lou Saban took over in 1972. He barely totaled 1,000 yards in his final two injury-riddled seasons in San Francisco. Noteworthy stat: In 1973, “The Juice” gained an NFL record 2,003 yards in 14 games, including 200 yards in the snow at Shea Stadium against the Jets in the season finale. NBC Sports rates OJ the 2nd best running back of all time. We all know OJ isn't a good person and I think that hurts him on these types of lists sometimes. I'm happy the guy's in jail. But back in the day, he was awesome to behold. For you youngsters out there, things were different in those days. Of course, the season was only 14 games long. And rule changes since OJ's time have all been designed to help the offense (more offense = better ratings). When OJ rushed for 2,000 yards, only 4 other backs ran for over 1,000. The best of those had 1144 - only 57% of OJ's total. Never in modern NFL history has a running back finished so far ahead of his peers (which included the likes of Floyd Little, Mercury Morris, Calvin Hill, Larry Csonka, Chuck Foreman, Franco Harris and other talented backs). I despise OJ the killer. I admired OJ the runner. He wasn't just about speed. He had tremendous vision, incredible elusiveness and was surprisingly strong.

Sunday: Buffalo Bills, Pittsford, N.Y Three quick practice observations on the Bills 1: Lots of teams can say when they spread the field that they're going to be difficult to handle. I saw it with my own eyes late Sunday afternoon. When the Bills line up in a five-wide formation, with Ryan Fitzpatrick in a shotgun, they go with Lee Evans and Stevie Johnson outside, David Nelson (second-year surprise from Florida), Roscoe Parrish and the heretofore unknown Donald Jones inside. (Jones, you can tell by being here, is a favorite of the coaches and the quarterback.) The reason this formation could be a major threat is because of the speed of Evans and Parrish, the over-the-top catching ability of Johnson and the physical nature of Jones and Nelson. Sometimes the Bills might use C.J. Spiller as one of the slot guys and they might line up Brad Smith in the shotgun instead of Fitzpatrick. Whatever they do, there are enough young weapons here to make the AFC East take notice. 2. Top draft pick Marcell Dareus might be one of the widest people ever to put on an NFL uniform. I was amazed to watch him from behind, next to one of my All-Pro defensive tackles from 2010, Kyle Williams. Williams, from the back, looks like 60 percent of Dareus, even though the weight difference is only about 50 pounds. So far the two men whom the Bills hope will be playing alongside each other for the next six to eight years are getting along great. "I don't like guys who talk a lot before they do anything," Williams told me. "Marcell has come in with a great work ethic and hasn't asked for anything to be handed to him. Everybody here is really impressed with him. Plus, he's going to be very, very hard to move." 3. It looked to me like the Bills might be preparing to use Brad Smith more than the Jets did, if that's possible. Early on, the Bills have been highly impressed with the strength and accuracy of Smith's arm. "I don't know if he'll touch the ball four times in a game or 14," Chan Gailey told me. "All I know is he's going to get it a bunch." Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/peter_king/08/08/tour/index.html#ixzz1URgzInCr

The Pats may very well be the best club in the NFL right now - best head coach and best FO. But that doesn't mean they are infallible. And it seems they are rolling the dice a bit on these moves. Sorry if my opinion is different than yours. As someone else pointed out, the Pats were 14-2 last year. So maybe the can afford to gamble. But when you have a good thing going, why bring in guys like Haynesworth and Ochocinco for potential short-term benefit when they threaten team chemistry? The Pats may prove my concerns wrong. They certainly have a track record of success. Nonetheless, I think the concerns are legitimate. So I agreed with the previous poster who labeled the signings as "strange." Even the Boston Globe (I think their beat reporters do watch the Pats) question the signings. Maybe you don't read much so here are quotes and links: "The Patriots were among the biggest newsmakers in the league coming out of the lockout, agreeing to trades for Ochocinco and Redskins defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth shortly after the NFL reopened for business. What's most unusual: Neither player is what's thought of as the usual type for Belichick, who prefers the quiet and businesslike to the guys who make headlines off the field. http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/articles/2011/07/30/ochocinco_says_he_can_change_to_patriots_way/ And in an article called "Patriot's Bad Call," a Globe Pats reporter questions the Haynesworth singing, "Is the team missing Myra Kraft's moral compass?" http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2011/08/02/patriots_bad_call/

This is one of the things that's slowing down the rebuilding process. The Bills aren't simply switching from a base 4-3 to a base 3-4. They are also trying to build a bigger defense with players who can shed blocks and bring guys down.

He'll miss the second half of the AFC championship game with a strained ankle but will be back in the starting lineup for Super Bowl XLVI.

We'll see if the Pats know what they are doing as the season unfolds. But their off season is "strange" because they've gone after some players who weren't especially in high demand and not necessarily good fits in NE. Ochocinco. Over the hill? Big mouth. Likes attention. Pouts when he doesn't get the ball. Odd choice because the Pats like players to shut up, forget individual stats and win as a team. Haynesworth. Over the hill? Takes plays off. Not a team guy. Locker room poison. Ellis. Over the hill? Even if the three of them turn out to have a little gas left in the tank this year, they certainly won't help the Pats for many seasons. NE will have to readdress these same needs next year.