Just in Atlanta

Considering that four weeks ago I thought winning the division was possible, and that sweeping the Fins and splitting wins with the Jets and Pats were probable, anything less than 9-7 will be a huge disappointment. Can't predict games anymore. I honestly have no idea whether this team has it within them to win any or all of the remaining games. Thought we were going to blow the crappy Jets O out of the water at home and that we were going to be blown out by them on Sunday. So, the good news: The season isn't over, this team seems capable of both amazing feats and ridiculous disasters, the Jets aren't that good, the odds are against three teams from the AFC North making it, and that anything--a Wildcard berth OR a 5-11 season--is possible.

Then give em gear. And the rest of us out of staters tickets. The details are up to them. Just throwing an idea out there that I believe I'd do if I were an owner of a team that's been as bad this long with such good fans.

I'm with ya. Here's an honest suggestion for the Bills front office: If we have another losing season, give out game tickets or Bills gear to the 1,000 most active posters on TBD. Any team, in fact, that doesn't make the playoffs in a decade and then caps the 11th year with a losing season should be rewarding their most loyal fans, IMO.

Poohah is disingenuous, completely lacking in basic logic, or both. 1. 9/11 happened to all of us, not just New Yorkers. 2. The Jets do the same freaking thing. Next, DHS will be investigating Stevie for ties to al Qeida. Poohahhah, stick to football dude and leave the cultural and political opining to yourself. You should check out the Wall Street Journal's story on SJ's "interpretive dance." Very well done and quite funny. Now I am officially done with this dead horse.

Yes. But I'll add two changes: The season is disappointing. More accurately, the past four games have been disappointing...I was personally thrilled at our first seven. Last time I checked, there were a bunch of games to go.

...And head to another decade of futility. We have a solid core, and to blow it up, well, it's not worth discussing. The time for rebuilding is over. The time for filling the holes of our core is here. We are one stud lineman, a pass rush (needs serious help), a DC and a star WR away IMO. McKelvin is a stud on ST and the coaching staff seem to think he can be a starter. He's worth keeping one more year. At least, we need depth and he can be used as a fourth CB. Merriman had a tremendous impact, sans stats, on our pass rush the few games he was healthy. I think most fans are in agreement he is worth one more gamble if the price is right. Don't really know about Bell one way or another. Are you really saying MD and KW are expendable? Yikes.

One more comment and I'm ready to put this behind me. Just read some stories this morning from the NY media, saying how the Jets have integrity and blah blah blah. And 9/11? Really Pooha or whatever your name is? Give me a break. SJ did a celebration dance, like hundreds of receivers before him, and took this one too far. Jets are one of the most disrespectful, loudmouthed teams there are. And Hodge--cutting our best WR, who admitted to making immature mistakes, and who will likely be a legit star? Get a clue. Officially over it. Nothing more to see here folks. Move on.

+ 2

Really, SJ doing a dance caused Rayner to mess his kick up? Logic circuits a little mixed here. And further, when you are penalized that many yards, which of course was SJ's fault, I don't think you should squib it to begin with. And...while I agree that if SJ had caught that pass, as I stated above, it could have lead to a win, it's also not a given that he would have run it in at all. The second one was way behind him. Sorry, I disagree with your logic here completely. Almost everybody did things that led to a loss here, SJ included.

I would hope so, but the penalty is getting all the jibber jabber, both here and nationally. This thread wouldn't exist if he hadn't done his little dance.

The dance was stupid, yes. But let's have a little context before we egg his house and demand a trade: What if Rayner didn't shank his squib kick? What if we never squibbed it in the first place? Or if... Nelson hadn't dropped that catch? SJ hadn't dropped that catch? Fitz had thrown the second to last ball one foot in front of SJ instead of one foot behind him? Smith was able to jump one inch higher on the last throw? Fitz hadn't wasted 10 seconds running just a couple of yards with only a minute to go in the 4th? We were able to put a modicum of pressure on Sanchez...just on that last drive? We were able to sack him just once on that last drive? Someone didn't blow his assignment...twice...on those Maybin sacks? Someone didn't blow his assignment on that big Keller catch? We never gave the ball to Choice twice on third down and instead called plays that actually worked? Our line had just half as many penalties as it did? Any one of these things could have led us to winning that game and would have had a more direct correlation to winning than SJ's penalty did on losing.

My thoughts: 1. Fitz looked impressive, threading tight passes in tight coverage. 2. What was with those two third down plays to Choice? Fitz should have audibled. Could tell they weren't going to work with that stack right away. 3. Lack of QB pressure is the biggest problem, even bigger than our O line. It sets the stage for everything. 4. CJ gets better with more touches. I think he can develop into a regular back. He and Freddy will be good compliments to each other. 5. Brad Smith looks great as our No. 2 WR. He's smooth and natural. On returns, he looks slow and awkward. 6. We attacked on offense, and looked explosive. Showed no fear. Great gameplan. 7. The team looked loose, and plays better that way. I hope SJ finds the right balance between not getting too "serious" and not being a jackass. Bonus thought: If he had caught that ball in the 4th, and ran it in, would anyone be talking about it? What if we had lost the Cinci game last year after he exposed his Tshirt? All I know is that I thought the dance was stupid right away and that I loved the Tshirt celebration. Fine line here. 8. I still don't understand how you can go from shutting a team out to the sewage of the Jets/Cowboys/Dolphins games to a pretty decent game yesterday. I still can't believe we let the Fins smack us around like that. 9. Fitz needs to trim that beard. Looks ridiculous. Every time I see it, I think of the birds that were living in Peter's beard in Family Guy. 10. Overall, we played damn well considering that we've lost a lineman, our star RB, two WRs, our Pro Bowl NT, Pro Bowl OLB, CB and S.

Agree with most of your thoughts, except Fitz deserves far more than just a pass. He had a pretty damn good game, and gets rid of the ball quicker than just about anyone due to the pressure he gets behind our patchwork line. I think everyone is going to be pleasantly surprised when we draft some linemen next year. He was threading some tight passes. Impressive day for the guy, IMO.

From Facebook: "a heartbreaking loss against the New York JETS...the BILLS played a good game and I cost us an opportunity to win the game...and I take full responsibility of it. like i said...it was a bad decision....but TRUST ME...i will learn from my mistakes and get better. i appreciate #billsmafia and all of my fans for the compliments AND the criticism! i take all of it to heart and promise to get better on and off the football field!" Don't know if that's really him, or a handler, but if it is him, which I presume it is due to the lack of caps, he comes off a lot better when he isn't limited to 50 characters. I believe he will learn. He made Revis look like McKelvin yesterday, IMO.

Real smart, fellas, trade our best wide receiver. He made a bonehead celebration, and dropped two key passes in the end. Otherwise, he had a brilliant game against the best corner in the league. He's a good kid and he'll learn from his errors.

Yeah, that was a pretty damn good game considering. I was expecting a blowout, and was prepared to not even be watching the game by the 4th. My BP is through the roof. Rather feel that way than downright depressed.

Stevie had a great game...until the last minute. Makes that taunting look lame now.

Well, if we're going to lose, I'd rather lose this way.

Don't understand that playcall to Choice. Ugly, after a pretty nice looking drive.

Sad to see this team, which finally had a chance after 11 years, fall so hard. Very little hope from this naturally optimistic fan. You'd have to have blinders on to think this team has even a shot at a winning record, let alone a playoff berth. Three weeks ago, I really did think we had a shot at winning this division. Ugh.

Point taken. Pretty sad when we're debating whether the punter did well. We will add Moorman to the list of four Bills who didn't have an epically pitiful game. WTF happened to our team?

Brad Smith didn't look good, and may very well have cost us TDs. Others who didn't look good and may have cost us TDs either with poor planning, bad play or having zero impact: Ryan Fitzpatrick Chan Gailey George Edwards Wanstache Eric Levitre Marcell Dareous The entire D line. Nick Barnett Linebackers. Defensive backs. Stevie Johnson. Martin Ruvell David Nelson CJ Spiller (did he just stop in front of the goalline?) Brian Moorman Only guys who looked good was Chandler and Lindell's replacement. And, I guess, props to whoever got the safety. Epic collapse, physically, mentally and emotionally.

Not even a close comparison. Complete meltdown. The Jets just got beat in the last minute. Worst collapse I've ever seen. Honestly thought these guys were legit. I did not feel that way in 08.

Frauds. WTF happened to this team?

Something must be done about all that smiling too. Football is not supposed to be fun. Run the ball. Pass the ball. Score touchdowns. Walk silently, stoically, back to the sideline. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7X2_V60YK8