hondo in seattle

The biggest playmakers on our offense are arguably CJ Spiller and Fred Jackson. It sucks they both play the same position and won't usually be on the field at the same time. It really sucks that both are hurt for the biggest game of the season so far. Do the Bills have enough talent remaining on the offense to keep up with the Brady led Patriots?

I'm usually a Fitz apologist but today I have to agree with the detractors. He made some important plays and avoided picks but was really off-target on some throws. Maybe the rain was bothering him on those throws as it seemed to on the "fumble." Whatever the cause, Fitz averaged less than 6 yards per pass attempt and barely threw for 200 yards against a weak Browns secondary (the Browns Pass D was ranked 28th in the NFL). Fitz hasn't yet this year looked at proficient as he did during the first 7 games of last season and it's starting to worry me. I'm happy for the win but with CJ and FredEx both hurting, we need better from Fitz next week.

I thought the refs were okay in the Jets game but just terrible today. There were two bad calls on turnovers (the fumble and the non-INT) that really, really hurt us. I remember thinking there was one bogus call against the Brownies as well but now I can't recall it. My wife, who doesn't know football, was wondering if the refs were Brown fans. Fortunately we won. If not, I would have been raging about the refs all day!

This is funny!

I think JW is convincing me that JW is a "run-guy at heart." He certainly hasn't always been as pass-happy as he was last year. I guess the question is: Is last year an aberration or a conversion? My guess is that eventually we'll look back upon 2011 as an aberration. If he was trying to emulate the Pats, the experiment failed in the 2nd half of the season. Gailey is a smart guy and any dreams of leading a Pats-style offense would have been crushed with Fitz's ribs.

Cool vid, thanks. In Buffalo we know Kyle is a beast but nationally Mario is far better known. Maybe this year changes that.

That's what makes me curious. Was Chan a little off kilter last year for some reason and this year he's calling it more like he wants to? Some people were wondering what it meant when Nix/Gailey opened the season with only 4 WRs when we used a lot of 4 WR sets last year and wore out a bunch of WRs. It's still early but I'm starting to think Chan will call more running plays this year than last - and run less 4 WR sets.

We've thrown the ball (or been sacked trying) 54 times in two games. We've run the ball 62 times in two games. Needless to say, we ran a lot in the KC game because we were sitting on a lead. Contrariwise, we passed a lot in the Jets game because we were playing catchup.

Thanks for the link. Interesting stuff. While some of us focused on the inefficiencies of the passing attack, we may have forgotten how well this run plays were executed. Lots of good X's and O's going here with players nailing their assignments. A couple quotes I liked: "His [CJ's] speed and quickness make him indefensible in the open field." "The combination of Buffalo's play-calling and Spiller's ability has regularly resulted in huge gains." (Gailey does deserve some of the credit for our ground success).

I read John Wawrow's article today with interest. Last year, the Bills were a team that passed to set up the run. During the off-season many on this board complained that Gailey passed too much, even when the passing game was ineffective. So I was amused when JW quoted Gailey saying he would run "every snap" if he could. That doesn't sound like the Gailey we know and love - but then again, maybe we don't know him as well as we think. As JW points out, the Bills 62 rushing attempts this year are tied for the 6th most in the NFL. JW continues... "As the Denver Broncos' coordinator from 1989-90, Gailey had Bobby Humphrey break 1,100 yards both seasons. In Pittsburgh, Jerome Bettis enjoyed his two best seasons with Gailey running the offense from 1996-97. Then there was Gailey's stint with as the Miami Dolphins coordinator in 2000-01, when Lamar Smith posted 2,107 yards." Did Gailey favor the pass in his first couple years with the Bills because (1) he knew we would need to score a lot to win given our poor D, or (2) because he thought a quick-passing attack was the best approach with a weak/inexperienced offensive line? Now that we seem to have a solid D and solid O Line - oh, and two dynamic RBs - will the Bills become a run-first team this season?

Thanks eball. That's an encouraging analysis. But if Fitz isn't the problem, what is? A passing attack that only completes 10 in 19 passes isn't as efficient as it ought to be.

The love some Bills fans have for VY isn't matched by NFL GMs.

The grammar, logic and flow of ideas could all be improved but I appreciated your love for our Buffalo Bills!

It's just a weekly feature but it's still nice to see CJ get some recognition. The Bills have an amazing tandem at RB.

You are right. Fitz is struggling to complete a high percentage of passes. And despite those struggles, the Bills are leading the league in TDs. I'd rather have our problems than the problems of teams struggling to find the endzone

People do have a right to boo. But I would hate Buffalo to become Philly where home-team players are regularly booed and some players actually prefer away games. Personally, I will never boo a Bill. Players who feel supported tend to perform better than players who feel unappreciated. I'll trust the coaches to jack up a player who needs it. But coaches usually encourage their players and build up their confidence to get them to peak performance. So I'll play my role in helping the Bills win when I'm at a game (which, unfortunately, isn't often) by cheering until my voice is gone. I liked it when Gailey told some fans, "When you dog one of us, you dog all of us." I won't dog any Bill who wants to help the Bills win, even if his best efforts aren't good enough. I save my boos for players on other teams. I'm a Bills fan which - to me - means I'm a fan of every Bill.

Inclement weather normally hurts the passing game more than the running game. Since our run offense & run defense are both better than our pass offense and pass defense, we would benefit from crappy weather.

The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Oh, that was last week. Bills look pretty good this week.

We can all speculate but none of us knows whether or not the Bills will be sold to the highest bidder. Certainly Kelly and some others have hinted that there is a succession plan in place and that plan keeps the Bills in Buffalo. But nobody is releasing details so it's hard to know if that plan truly exists and how secure it is. We'll find out when Ralph passes and that's when I'll worry about it.

Given the dearth of quality QBs, some teams with mediocre QBs will make the playoffs. Let's hope we're one of them.

Buying the Bills would cost nearly a billion dollars. You wouldn't raise nearly enough in donations to make a dent in that number.

bienvenidos!

I'm 53. Grew up in Cheektowaga but moved away when I was 18. Before I moved away, I was as much a Browns fan as a Bills fan. The first game I saw on TV was a Browns game and being a Bills fan was too cliche. After moving away, though, my Bills fanaticism grew and the Browns faded from my consciousness. I'm wondering if I'll ever witness a Bills Super Bowl win in my lifetime. If I live another 32 years, the statistical probability is the Bills will win just one Super Bowl. But the Bills have been trending below random chance. I might be doomed.

I saw it on TV but lived in SF later. Even the fans there told me they loved that game - though not the final score of course. Those were two high-powered offenses.

I'm not sure why the first INT this past Sunday is more representative of Fitz than the first 7 games of last season. I'm not entirely sure who the real Fitz is but I know that INT wasn't the best of Fitz. Or even his average/norm.