hondo in seattle

Sure sounds like it. If I was Phil Hansen, I'd be a little offended.

Offense: FJ is my favorite player, but at this point I have to say CJ is the best. Defense: It will be interesting to see how everyone performs under Pettine but I'll go with Mario.

Here's what Bruce said in a Chris Brown article... “Deacon is right up there. I think there are about three guys you put in a hat and you just pick a name out and those three guys would certainly be Deacon, Reggie White and myself at the defensive end position,” said Smith. “Certainly the rules were of a different nature when Deacon played. Deacon played with Merlin Olsen and a number of other defensive linemen that were extremely talented. Reggie also had an extremely talented defensive line." “I really believe that you take those three names and put them in a hat and just pick one and feel comfortable with it, and then you can go on with the debate as to who had more help, who had the better defensive line, how many times they were double-teamed and so forth and so on. But he’s an all-time great, he’s a better person and this is certainly a sad day.” http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-2/Bruce-Smith-reflects-on-passing-of-Deacon-Jones/217ca14e-51db-44ab-b80e-1954daac12c2

I go into most seasons expecting anything from absolute misery to mediocrity. I'm not sure what to expect this season, and that in itself is exciting.

Good point. I think Bruce would have been able to deliver a brutal head slap.

RIP Deacon Jones. He was a fierce competitor. But was he better than Bruce Smith? Bruce holds the NFL record with 200 career sacks. Back in the Deacon's day, sacks weren't a separate statistics. Nor were tackles. Unofficially, though, Jones has been credited with 173.5 sacks over 14 seasons. Apparently, Bruce produced more career sacks but many old-timers still insist Jones was better. My own opinion is that Deacon was more important historically because he revolutionized the position. Bill Parcels says, "Deacon was the first prototypical outside speed-power rusher in the history of the league." http://sports.yahoo....-193540383.html Deacon even invented the term "sack" when he cheerfully compared tackling QBs in the backfield to hog-tying them in a sack. But as a Buffalo homer, I have to say Bruce was the better DE and sack-master. Bruce produced more sacks despite not playing without the Fearsome Foursome around him and despite being pushed, grabbed and held. Back in Deacon's days, NFL rules didn't allow offensive linemen to use their hands like they do today. Wonder what other opinions are out there?

I am a fan of any QB wearing a Bills jersey. But Kolb hasn't given me any reason (yet) to be a bigger fan of him than of EJ, TJ or Tuel.

Roosevelt Leaks

I agree with Webster. Levitre's departure concerns me. I wonder about the O Line. I don't worry about reports about Glenn's performance in OTAs.

Somebody's paying way more attention than I am!

'Phin Killer Unpaid Bills Water Buffalo Bills with Gills Buffalo Beach Bills Knot Lose Floating Ralph Ride Buffalo - Eat Dolphin Bills Boat Battleship Buffalo Bills Tsunami Bills Sea Super Bowl

I wonder how much due diligence Dallas did on the QBs. They spent their draft trying to support Romo, not replace him. They didn't need to spend the same amount of time/resources studying QBs that the Bills did.

Agree!

People prosecuted in federal courts get do indeed get convicted about 90% of the time. If I was one of the guys who recorded Nix, I'd be worried about now. http://en.wikipedia....Conviction_rate http://www.nytimes.c...ction-rate.html

I agree with both these comments and would add this to the later: it will be interesting to see how good our secondary will look under Pettine. While none of these guys have received a lot of accolades in their NFL careers thus far, there is a lot of athleticism in our back end. Not only do we hope Pettine can generate a pass rush, we also hope he can put players in places to make plays.

We'll take a linebacker with the 14th pick.

Kent Austin, GM and Head Coach of the Hamilton Tiger Cats, says he'll be watching the Bills cuts closely.

26, thanks for this! It was great to watch the segment on the '64 and '65 Bills. We were once champions.

Thanks for the support! I used to run 40-50 miles per week including 20 mile Saturday runs on mountain trails. Now I'm a freakin' fat, sedentary couch potato! But the doc says that, although my range-of-motion will be somewhat limited, I'll otherwise be able to eventually return to a normal life. My surgery was "transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion" (TLIF). I'm not sure what type of surgery Troup had other than it was spinal fusion. Bone material is placed between two vertebrae and after some time those two vertebrae will fuse together. Docs don't want you to do much until the fusion is solid. My doc says that at this point my fusion is like glass - seemingly solid but actually fragile. Titanium hardware holds the vertebrae in place until the bone graft sets. Bears WR Johnny Knox had spine fusion surgery after getting hit by ex-Bill Anthony Hargrove. Knox never played again. I hope Troup has a better recovery. He seems to be doing well.

Players don't win games, teams do. Tebow has only completed 47.9% of his NFL passes. That's scary low. His QB Rating is 75.3 and his QBR is 34.3. Those numbers don't scream "Franchise Quarterback." Tebow's faith and celebrity aren't the fundamentals reason he's unemployed. It's a shortage of skill.

Last year's squad won 6 games. This year's squad hasn't won any yet. So those calling the OP "premature" are perhaps understating it. But, like CodeMonkey, I love the optimism.

Yep, Troup had spinal fusion. I've had the same operation. The recovery period is long. I had my operation 6 months ago and my doc still doesn't want me running on hard surfaces, lifting heavy objects, or otherwise stressing my back. But eventually I'll be able to do all those things. Troup will be able to come back. I guess the question is whether or not he had enough talent for the NFL in the first place. I suppose we'll find out this year.

You have a point but, c'mon, don't you get tired of hiring the same verbiage over and over? "He's got great range." "High football I.Q." "A lot of upside." "Plays well in space." I'm guessing he's using "friskiness" to mean a creative, uptempo offense. I like it.

Pettine/Ryan did great things with the Jets. Really creative, effective stuff. It will be exciting to see what Pettine does here. Marrone/Payton did equally great things with the Saints. Both Marrone & Pettine had their units in the top five of the NFL. Needless to say, having Drew Brees helped Marrone in NO, though Drew wasn't nearly as productive previously with SD. I'm excited to see what Marrone/Hackett will do. Hackett seems like a smart, enthusiastic ("hyper" & "giddy") guy. I'm drinking the Kool-Aid.

Brian Galliford has spent a lot of time watching NYJ video, trying to figure out Pettine's defense and how he may apply his defensive philosophy to the Bills. I thought Galliford's analysis - in a series of articles - made for good reading. The first link might be the most illuminating... http://www.chatsport...media-2-7912241 http://www.chatsport...media-2-7912241 http://www.chatsport...media-2-7912241 P.S. Bobby Chandler, congrats on your 5,000th post (even if you closed my last thread)!