hondo in seattle

Not to knock DeHaven but I miss Bobby April and would be more confident if he was still here.

Because our Offensive Line provided zero push. Nothing. Nada. We ran the ball best when we had defenses on their heels. We really struggled running the ball in 3rd and short situations.

Are defenses really getting smaller and faster? The Tampa 2 - which prefers faster defenders - has been around since the 1990s. Getting faster is not a new idea. And not everyone buys into it because of your point - when you line up speedsters on defense instead of big bodies, you will suffer against power running teams. This isn't a new observation. So not all defenses are built on speed at the expense of size. The best defenses have both speed and size. Chan proved at the beginning of last year (not to mention with other clubs) that what he wants to do works - when we have the right (or almost right) players and we're healthy. Why change to something unproven when Chan has a proven track record doing what he does? You say "the current trend is to go 4 WR and put up 5000 yards passing." If other teams are passing for 5,000 yards, then I want to get on that train! I want to follow the trend of what works, not go against the grain and do something that doesn't work. Brees, Brady and Stafford all threw for 5,000 yards last year and Eli was close. Apparently defenses aren't small and fast enough yet. Considering that defenses are struggling to defend the pass given some of the newer rules favoring QBs and WRs, Chan wants to throw the ball. That makes perfect sense to me.

Yep. And the short article next to the poll is about the Bills D-Line. Think maybe Bills fans are skewing the results?

Kelsay was a failure as an OLB - but far less of a failure in Year #2 of that experiment than Year #1. I'm happy to see him back as a 4-3 DE where he belongs. Personally, I think Williams, Anderson, Kelsay, and Merriman will be a really good group of rotational DEs this season. Especially with Dareus and Kyle pushing the middle. When you look at our group of DEs, I'm not sure Kelsay will start or deserves to start. Nonetheless, count me fan because I'm a fan of any Bill as long as he wears the Bills red, white and royal blue. I'm hoping Kelsay has a great season and quiets his critics.

What's wrong with what Donte said? "If you have the right type of guys in that (defensive) room, you don't have to set bounties or pay money for guys to play physical and play hard."

Kirwan is right, we need these two to step up and it's encouraging he thinks they will.

Thanks for the observations, John. I agree wholeheartedly with the bolded part. Seems like Gilmore might be the kind of DB who can get in a WR's head.

Actually, I agree with you that Kelly did not single-handedly transform the Bills. But he was always the face of that transformation - far more so than Andre, Thurman or Bruce. Obviously, a lot of good things needed to coalesce for the Bills to win the AFC four years in a row. But, fair or not, one guy got a lion's share of the credit. And there were reasons why. Maybe because I live out-of-state now, but I just don't sense that Fitz resonates with the fans like Kelly did. Fitz might be a better human being than Kelly, but the rise of the Super Bowl Bills and Jim Kelly are inextricably linked. And Kelly always seemed like one of us even despite (and maybe partly because of) his foibles. Fitz is more like the accidental QB who is maybe the right person in the right place at the right time. Is Fitz generating the kind of excitement Kelly did when he came to town? Do as many people wear Fitz jersey's as wore Kelly jerseys in the late 80s, early 90s? Not hardly. The OP's question is will Fitz move ahead of Kelly as a Buffalo icon if Fitz wins a SB. We can only speculate but my guess is still no.

Ya know, I might be one of the guys growing a beard if Fitz leads us to the Super Bowl. I do appreciate that he has removed the Ivy League sweater-vest and behaves like just one of the guys. I love the loyalty he shows to his teammates. And his corny sense of humor. And how he screams like a prepubescent girl when he gets excited. Well, maybe not that last one so much. But I love that he has fun on the field. As for SB probabilities, I feel the Bills have better odds this year (and in the near future) than at any other time since Kelly et al. retired. I like the way this team is coming together and do believe Fitz can win a SB with the right surrounding cast.

Nice article, JW. Early last season, I was excited about the Bills offense. This preseason, I'm excited about the defense. It's hard not to expect a huge jump up the rankings.

I'll not comment on the probability of the event and give the question the serious answer I think the OP was looking for... No, Fitz wouldn't move ahead of Kelly as a Buffalo icon even if the Bills won the SB this year. Kelly transformed a 2-14 team and league laughingstock into a Super Bowl contender. We won many games over that evolution on the strength of Kelly's arm. And many more on the strength of his leadership and sheer will. Kelly seemed to epitomize the Buffalo spirit. He was a kid that some universities didn't want - at least not as their QB. But he was blue-collar, gutsy, tough, hard-working and confident. In other words, he was just like us - or how we imagine ourselves to be. Kelly came to town when the team was abysmal and nothing seemed to be right in Buffalo and he gave us several years of glory - with some heart-rending disappointments along the way. Fitz is an Ivy League boy who would be working on Wall Street if not in the NFL. He just doesn't connect as well with our rust belt sensibilities. And if we did win the Super Bowl, the credit would be spread evenly around to Nix, Chan, and all the players. Less of our success would be attributed - rightly or wrongly - to the QB. And - if we won the SB - the transformation would not be quite the same rags to riches story. We weren't horrible when Fitz came here. Just profoundly and persistently mediocre. While his position wouldn't yet be as elevated as Kelly's in the pantheon of Buffalo sports, I think we could see a lot of Buffalonians growing out Fitzian beards if we won the SB.

I live 2600 miles away and appreciate all the information from the hometown fans. Without you guys, I wouldn't know what's going on. Thanks!

I don't think it's vindication to find an obscure sportswriter who agrees with your opinion. But it is a nice article and I agree with much of it. Vindication is when Kelsay has a good year this year.

Dean Cain - who was a Bill for a very short period of time - is on TV in a new show titled "Stars Earn Stripes" about celebrities going through military challenges. http://www.nbc.com/stars-earn-stripes/about/ Cain was an excellent athlete in high school and received numerous athletic scholarship offers. But he chose to go to Princeton instead. After graduating with a B.A. in History, Cain had a tryout with the Bills but ruined his knee in training camp - ended his dreams of playing in the NFL. So we went to Hollywood where he's worked as a screenwriter,producer and actor - and fathered a child with a Playboy Playmate. Even though he's only nominally a Bill, I like to see ex-Bills do well.

Good call! Not to mention that the Bills had a better offseason than all these teams minus perhaps the Broncos.

I worry about the O Line. We have a new LT (probably a rookie) and our O Line was not dominant last year. Yep, we didn't give up a lot of sacks. Yep, our two featured backs both averaged over 5 yards per carry. But much of that was do to Chan's scheme and play calling. When we needed to run we couldn't - we had no push. We were last in the league in 3rd and short situations. It will be interesting to see if Fitz is really better this year with healthier ribs and Coach Lee to help with his inconsistent mechanics. And it will be interesting to see if this D Line gels and can both stop the run and pressure QBs. But the other thing I'll watch carefully is the offensive line.

Gaughn in the Buffalo News says this: "McGee is the prospective starter at cornerback opposite rookie Stephon Gilmore. In passing situations, McGee moves inside to cover a slot receiver, and Aaron Williams enters as an outside corner. With McGee out of team drills, Williams is starting outside and Leodis McKelvin covers the slot in the nickel defense."

A quote from that article says it all... "Mary Paoletti of Comcast SportsNet New England reported that Addai was struggling during his conditioning test Wednesday ... and just "quit.""

I was guessing the same thing when I read the quote.

I liked Henry when we had him. He was a warrior who played hard despite injuries. Too bad he was also a drug user, drug distributor and serial father. It's hard to imagine any team having an interest in him now... Travis Henry wants to make a comeback Posted by Josh Alper on July 23, 2012, 10:16 AM EDT Here’s something we didn’t think we’d be writing about on Monday morning. According to Adam Caplan of Sirius XM Radio and TheSidelineView.com, former NFL running back Travis Henry is trying to make a comeback for the 2012 season. Henry was last seen when he received a three-year federal prison sentence for his role in a drug trafficking organization in 2009, a sentence that has now come to an end and one that apparently left Henry feeling like he could make a return to professional football. It’s fair to wonder if Henry wasn’t using some of his own supply when he came up with that plan. Henry turns 34 in October and has plenty of baggage that isn’t related to that prison term. Henry was suspended for a year by the league in 2008 because of positive marijuana tests and he fathered at least 11 children with 10 different women, leading to a lot of issues with child support payments during his playing career. Those needs haven’t gone away, which likely leaves Henry in need of money but, again, it is hard to see a team opting for Henry when younger backs who haven’t spent the last few years in prison are available. Henry ran for 6,086 yards and 38 touchdowns during his seven years with the Bills, Titans and Broncos. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/07/23/travis-henry-wants-to-make-a-comeback/related/

+1

Rob Johnson at his peak was therefore a franchise QB. He averaged 7.6 ypa in 1999 and 7.3 ypa in 2000. For two years, he met your criteria. It's hard to quantify "franchise QB" but if I were to attempt it, I'd probably look at total yards (or yards per game). Guys like Brees and Brady move their teams up and down the field with the arms, not by handing off. I think the argument that a QB is often labeled a "franchise QB" after a SB win (however much the QB contributed) is a fair one. Incidentally, Bledsoe led the Pats to the SB in 1996 (which they lost), averaging only 6.6 ypa that season (same as his entire career in NE). But he passed for over 4,000 yards that year and went to the Pro Bowl.

Thanks! Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Maybe this is one of my two times.

Winning requires the offense to score more than the defense gives up. During the first half of the season, the Bills proved they can score a lot of points with Fitz as the QB as long as the key players remain healthy. The offseason gave us the defensive talent to keep opposing point totals down. Fitz and the Bills are going to win more than they lose this year. Fitz is no Kelly, but the Bills offense will be potent nonetheless. I'd rather have a Kelly but I can live with Fitz. The Bills will be fun to watch this year and having Fitz as the QB doesn't dampen my enthusiasm.