hondo in seattle

I tend to agree with the "IF" comment from Scotts. Those who love our O line like to mention how many YPC FredEx and CJ had. But here are a couple contrary observations... We were last in the league at 3rd and short conversions. Dead last. If you followed the Bills last season, you know our O Line just didn't produce much push in obvious running situations. They did however produce holes when Chan's play calling got the defense on their heels. Another interesting factoid, Freddie led the NFL in yards after contact. In other words, he was getting most of his yards on his own. He was not typically running through gaping holes. Thankfully, this is NOT the same O Line as last year. Wood is healthy and Bell was replaced by Glenn. It remains to be seen how physical this line is. IF they can indeed push back defenders and create running lanes, I would love to see us run more. Otherwise, I just repeat the mantra, "In Chan I trust." BTW, it's "Buddha" not "budda"

It's normal for athletes - and coaches - to understate injuries. We all know what Chan and Stevie are saying but we worry anyway because we're Bills fans who've grown accustomed to bad news and have come to expect the worst.

Mike Pereira, former NFL director of officials said of the Giants-Cowboys game, "One game doesn't make a week, but it was definitely a good start." This guy's allegiance is clearly with the locked-out refs but even he conceded the replacements did well. And Pereira would know.

Stephon Gilmore. I think Gilmore will be a good NFL player faster than Glenn.

My prediction: Bills 17, Jets 14 for reasons stated elsewhere. Was amused by Peter Kings pick (Bills 27, Jets 13): 1 p.m. ET (CBS) Buffalo Bills (0-0) at New York Jets (0-0) Here come Mario Williams and Mark Anderson to torment Mark Sanchez, and Sanchez has to be wondering what horrible thing he did in some past life to be undergoing the kind of competitive torture that'll confront him late in this game. "TEE-Bow, TEE-Bow!" The chants will rain down on him if he's down big in the fourth quarter of this one, and Sanchez will be rooting for 15 road games by the time he walks off the field. Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/peter_king/09/06/week-1/index.html#ixzz25kwt2lMp

Fitz certainly played like he had cracked ribs last year. But I don't think we've ever heard that confirmed by Buddy, Chan or Fitz himself. Is it possible that a couple WRs overstated the injury to protect Fitz from the heat he was taking? I'm not asserting this, just asking?

Good!

I likewise thought they did fine. I was impressed that they didn't seem intimindated being out there with NFL millionairres on national TV. They weren't shy about throwing flags.

I knew someone would say that. I just threw in that adjective for fun but I actually do kind of like Peter King. Very few of the national media guys are very credible simply because it takes too much work to be conversant on 32 teams at once. King is better than most, and he does have some good inside sources.

Sounds like an immigrant scalper who has no idea what they're selling. Very funny. Thanks for sharing.

The Giants are shown in dignified suits carrying two Lombardi Trophies. The Jets are displayed as sad-sack clowns... http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000058129/article/jets-wild-circus-hits-new-york-posts-front-page

From PFT: Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the Patriots are bringing in Kellen Winslow for a visit. If signed, Winslow would join a group of tight ends that includes Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez, and Visanthe Shiancoe. Then there’s Jake Ballard, whom the Pats claimed on waivers and will carry on injured reserve.

Previously we saw that 9 of 16 ESPN NFL gurus picked the Bills to make the playoffs as a wild card team. SI's picks just came out today and only 3 of their 9 experts project the Bills making the playoffs. Don Banks and the venerable Peter King are among the three. Altogether, 12 of 25 footbal experts predict that the Bills will make the playoffs this year, making it roughly a 50-50 proposition. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/football/nfl/09/04/nfl-predictions-2012/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

I remember a GB fan saying Martin was actually a good back-up there who ran good routes and caught the ball well. So I'm hoping his hands of stone are just a temporary problem because he was easy to dislike last year and - as a rule - I like all players in the red, white and blue of the Buffalo Bills.

Curious, because he was one of the first cuts earlier this year.

This thread is really silly. First it's bad fandom. Haiku is too dainty, aesthetic and eastern to be combined with old-fashioned, blue-collar, macho American football. Second, it's bad Haiku. Basho must be rolling over in his grade. But what the heck: Sanchez and Tebow, two quarterbacks, no endzone. Bills win in shutout.

Thanks for the link. At first, I figured Seattle must have had some good reason for cutting him - perhaps he was slowed by some nagging injury. But the author of this article seems perplexed by the move and thinks Winslow still has gas in the tank. Make me want Nix to have a looksee.

Actually, I think Chan's schemes and play-calling made the offensive line look better than it really was last year. It's worth noting were last in the NFL in 3rd and short situations because our line provided zero push. Maybe this year, with Wood healthy, we'll be better.

I might watch it if the players took the game seriously. We've created a Super Bowl or bust mentality that believes anything less than a SB victory is a failure. The battle for the 'bronze medal' is just a game to decide how far you failed by. I think it would be hard to convince players that it's worth the effort - and worth the risk of injury. Nonetheless, I would definately watch if the Bills were playing.

I'm not persuaded but it's possible. As pointed out, they did something similar with Mount Jasper last year. I'm all in favor of giving Easley one more season to see if he can develop into a legitimate NFL receiving threat.

+1 Going into the regular season with just 4 WRs (plus Smith) worried me. This makes me less anxious.

So it was Polian's fault that he didn't sign us a better kicker? I'm okay with that. But I think it's silly to blame Marv or Polian for four consecutive Super Bowls (win or lose). The Bills were in the toilet before those two took over.

I'm embarrassed because you are right and I am apparently wrong. This is from PFT about the new rule: "The owners and players have agreed to expand game day rosters from 45 to 46 active players. The No. 3 quarterback will no longer be an “emergency” inactive player." But curiously, I found this as I researching the topic: "I also think you could potentially see more teams looking at that third QB spot as a potential weapon. Maybe more teams will start employing hybrid or wildcat style QBs as that third guy. Think of the Jets with Brad Smith...".

Marv did FAR more than manage egos! He also did a great job of preparing the team during the off- and pre-season. He was tactically smart (though not in the elite in that regard). His players played hard from the 1st Quarter than the last. They didn't mail-it in. You would see Kelly and WRs blocking for the RBs, for example. And Marv instilled in the team a never-surrender attitude that was exhibited in other games besides The Comeback. And, btw, the Bills won The Comeback without Thurman and Kelly. They wouldn't have won that game if Marv hadn't been the coach. Sadly, it's true that "as GM he made Tom Dohanhoe look like a genius" as Billy observes. But I'm willing to look past that. Marv is kind of like the kindly uncle who gives you some really crappy Xmas presents as he gets old and single. But I still appreciate him for the great Xmas presents he gave me before.

Think of Michael Jordan. Do we remember him in his prime? Or how he played in his Wizards comeback? I choose remember Marv in his prime as Head Coach rather than his failed comeback as GM. Those who think it was Polian and whoever who built up the Bills and Marv had nothing to do with it are misinformed. Certainly, ex Bills players remember Marv much differently. So do the Hall of Fame electors, who know more about the NFL than the vast majority of posters here. They know how hard it is to get any team into the SB four years in a row. Just think of all the great coaches who never accomplished this. There's a reason Marv was elected to the HOF. There's some truth in the idea that Kellly, Thurman, Smith, Reed, etc. made Marv job's easier and made him look good. But it's also true that Marv brought out the best in his players. I can easily imagine any of these players (minus perhaps Bruce), playing in another era on the Bills with another head coach and not having a HOF career. Was Thurman really that much better than FredEx? Was Reed really better than Moulds? It's almost blasphemous to ask these questions because Thurman and Reed are legends who piled up great stats and led us into the playoffs under Marv's direction. If Marv had FredEx and Moulds back then, they would have accumulated much better numbers than they did in fact. And their legacies would have been different. FredEx and Moulds would not have been just Pro Bowlers under Marv, they would have been Super Bowlers. (Fortunately, it's not too late for FredEx to have that experience). Marv may not have the best W-L record of the HOF coaches. Point taken. But he was twice tasked to turn around franchises with little talent and terrible records. Even Vince Lombardi would have needed some time (seasons with poor records) in those circumstances. Maybe the people who blast Marv are just too young to remember how truly pathetic the Bills were before his arrival. As someone who lived through the years of fultlity pre-Marve, I can only love the guy for what he did. The last few years of Bills mediocrity are nothing to the years of abject misery that came before Marv. In DJ's worse full year, he won 7 games. In the 2.5 years before Marv took over mid-season, the Bills had just total 6 wins. DJ's 7 wins per season would have been a welcome relief back in those days when we averaged 2 wins per season. Marv took this horrible team to the playoffs 8 times and the Super Bowl 4 times. More importantly, he made us proud to be Buffalonians and proud to be Bills fans.