Forward Progress

Even though the record for each team is after two games, if you read the comments of the FOX rankings, these must be the rankings after week 1. The intern may get fired for posting this.

I wasn't impressed with Nathaniel Hackett after his first season, but he's winning me over. In Hackett and Marrone's first year, it felt like they came in with a plan and attempted to "force-fit" our personnel into it. This year feels different. They have scrapped the hurry-up, which is too much responsibility for a rookie QB. They are using CJ more in open space and less pounding up the middle. They are using play action and misdirection plays more effectively as well. The offence is not where it needs to be yet in the read zone, but at least they are moving the ball down the field and avoiding 3-and-out's and turnovers. This offence is improving and the defence is solid. This is a real team today that is still getting better.

I am so excited about this game, but will have to record it and watch it later tonight. My girlfriend is flying home today, so I am picking her up from the airport. My biggest challenge will be to shield myself from scores and highlights all day. Hmm. Maybe I don't really need a girlfriend during football season. (Just kidding.... kinda)

Best news ever!!! I am one of many Canadian Bills fans who love the Buffalo Bills right where they are.

Since Brady sucked in Miami, maybe it's time for him to retire. In all seriousness, if he doesn't get better O-line play, Brady is in for a very long year. I know Bellicheat's teams always seem to get better as the year goes on, but I was not impressed with what New England showed in Miami. They have a long way to go. FP

This should be a great game this week. It looks like a tough day for both offences and turnovers will be huge. I am so glad that we have Schwartz's run-D now. The Dolphins are no pushover, but neither are we. I think we pull it out in the 4th quarter.

It's pretty simple for me. If he wears a Bills jersey, I root for him every time he steps on the field. GO BILLS!!!

Correct my if I'm wrong, but I thought both of the punters we signed were dual role candidates (punters and kick-off specialists). I think we are using the extra roster spot from Bradham's suspension to choose one of these guys. One will be gone within a week.

Here are the new Practice Squad eligibility rules: The extra two players can have up to 32 games on an active roster over their first two seasons while remaining eligible for the practice squad, meaning essentially any 2012 or 2013 rookies now become eligible. As for the other eight spots on the practice squad, those players are under the old eligibility rule which allows for no more than eight games on an active NFL roster.

Maybe I'm slow, but I haven't completely formed my opinion on EJ yet. He's been capable at times and inaccurate at others. He hasn't made many highlight reel throws, but he hasn't had an excess of boneheaded plays (e.g. Tuel vs. KC) that can kill a team either. Before our O-Line was realigned for preseason game three, EJ was moving the ball and getting first downs, but we weren't finishing in the red zone. After the O-Line realignment (which I agree gets the best five players on the line and should become a solid improvement over last season), our offence was brutal, mostly due to poor pass protection, poor run blocking, too many penalties along with some imprecise throws from EJ. I think the job belongs to EJ until he gets injured or proves that he is not a capable starting quarterback in the NFL. I am glad that we signed Orton because he is so much better than our other options at backup, but it's too soon throw EJ away and start all over again searching for our next franchise QB. Is it just me, or has this offseason, been way too long? I can't wait for the real games to start. GO BILLS!! FP

I fully bought into the hype this offseason. That doesn't mean much because I bought into Trent Edwards and Ryan Fitzpatrick when they had us off to 5-1 starts, so I guess I'm easily convinced. For the record, if we somehow jumped out to a 5-1 start again, I will buy in all over again. Who am I kidding? A 1-0 start would put me over the top right now. I believed our O-Line would be a huge improvement over last year, but it looks worse than ever (blown assignments, no holes for running backs and penalties galore). I think that our O-Line play has been the number one issue this pre-season and am hoping they can get their act together and fast. In theory, Marrone should be the perfect coach to get this o-line on track, but I haven't seen any real improvement yet. EJ is struggling behind this line, but he hasn't shown much even when he does have time to make a play. I'd like to see him play with a little more fire in his belly - he seems way too content with his play so far. I am impressed by how quickly our run defence has improved under Schwartz and believe we have an elite defence if only the offence could control the clock and gain some field position on each position. Why can't we have good coaching on both sides of the ball? Under Jauron, Fewell did a great job with the defence while the offence sputtered. Then Gailey comes in, getting amazing production out of a bunch of no-name offensive players, but Wanny was brutal. Now it looks like strong D and lousy O again. Thank God this pre-season is over. These meaningless games are affecting me more than they should. GO BILLS!

I'd rather win out. Not just because I hate losing, but winning this year leads to more winning next year. I was screaming at Wannstedt through my TV for most of the first half, but if the defence is improving it will carry over to next year. I also think key free agents like Byrd and Levitre are more likely to re-sign with the Bills if they are winning.

The sky's the limit? The sky is not the limit. There is no limit!!!

It's good to see that we have more upside than downside. GO BILLS!!!!

The women are listed alphabetically by first name, and you had to go all the way to "Aarti" before you found one you liked. Stop being so picky.

Marcel, Super Mario, FredEx

Buddy seems to be patient bringing the rookies into starting roles, allowing them some time to develop as backups. I predict that Hairston will start in week 1, but Glenn will take over 3-4 games into the season. To offer the first rebuttal to my post, I'm not sure if the patience that I saw in the last two years was because the 2010 draft class wasn't outstanding and the 2011 offseason was reduced, slowing the progress of the rookie class. Isn't it great discussing position battles where we have more than one reasonable option. Like Chan says, we want competition at every position.

Buddy was the Director of Pro Player Personnel for his first year with the Chargers, but after Butler died, Smith was promoted to General Manager, and Nix to Assistant General Manager. Your challenge is fair - I can't say that Buddy pulled the strings, as he reported to A.J. Smith. I did read that Nix was one of the major draft-day decision makers for the Chargers, which would imply that it was a team approach, rather than a one-man show. In any case, he has experience in a winning program in San Diego, and I would love to see similar results here in Buffalo.

Buddy Nix has won over a lot of fans (myself included) by establishing what appears to be the foundation of a much more competitive football team. I became curious about the Charger's success in San Diego relative to the time that Buddy was making most of the draft-day decisions, so I did a little digging. The Chargers were pretty crappy when Buddy arrived, and continued to struggle for three more years. In Buddy's 4th year, the Chargers jumped from last to first in the AFC West and remained perennial AFC powerhouses for the next six years. Of the players that Buddy drafted in San Diego, 3 went to the Pro Bowl in 2005, 6 in 2006, 11 in 2007 and 8 in 2008 (source: Wikipedia). It feels like Buddy is taking us down the same path. I'm not sure if we're ready to leapfrog the Pats* this year, but the Bills are ready to make some noise. How cool would it be to have 11 Pro Bowlers on the Bill's roster? I've attached an image of the Charger's records relative to the Buddy's time with the team.

Southwestern Ontario, cheering North America's team.

Week 1 9/9: Buffalo Bills at New York WIN Week 2 9/16 Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills WIN Week 3 9/23: Buffalo Bills at Cleveland Browns WIN Week 4 9/30: New England Patriots* at Buffalo Bills WIN Week 5 10/07: Buffalo Bills at San Francisco 49ers LOSE Week 6 10/14: Buffalo Bills at Arizona Cardinals LOSE Week 7 10/21: Tennessee Titans at Buffalo Bills WIN Week 8: BYE Week 9: 11/04 Buffalo Bills at Houston Texans LOSE Week 10: 11/11 Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots* LOSE Week 11: 11/15 (Thurs) Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills WIN Week 12: 11/25 Buffalo Bills at Indianapolis Colts WIN Week 13: 12/02 Jacksonville Jaguars at Buffalo Bills WIN Week 14: 12/09 St. Louis Rams at Buffalo Bills WIN Week 15: 12/16 Seattle Seahawks at Buffalo Bills WIN Week 16: 12/23 Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins WIN Week 17: 12/30 New York Jets at Buffalo Bills WIN Great contest. 12-4 and an end to the playoff drought.

A- What's not to like? He plays fast, hits hard and has hair like Polamalu.

My biggest concern is that I have to wait 5 more months for the season to start. I'm so excited... and I just can't hide it... I'm about to lose control and I think I like it!!

Gregg Williams is suspended indefinately and Sean Payton is suspended for one full year. In addition, the Saints will forfeit 2 second round draft picks. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d827c0dd9/article/nfl-suspends-williams-indefinitely-saints-payton-one-year-?module=HP11_breaking_news

The Jets play on Thursday the week before, so they will get an extra 3 days to prepare for us.