2003Contenders

I hear ya, and this game scares me because it really could be a come-down for this young team. Hopefully, with it being the home opener, everyone will be stoked. Interstingly enough, Pennington lives and dies by the running game. He just has such darn good ball-handling skills that he can eat us alive with the play-action pass. Of course, the defense doesn't have to respect it as much if the running game isn't working. As bad as the Jets' running game has been, our run defense has been equally bad. And that does worry me. If we can get ahead early and/or shut down the Jets' running game, this could be an easy win. Otherwise, it could be a lo-o-o-ong day.

While Chicago fans may have a botched memory of more losses than wins, they should also remember that DJ had to deal with the cards he was dealt. My recollections of DJ's tenure in Chicago are tied to the research I did on him when he looked like a viable contender for the Buffalo HC job back in 2004. Everyone remembers the 2001 Coach of the Year stint. However, 2002 was more than just a coming back down to earth situation for the Bears. They had to deal with a ridiculous number of injuries that season -- and played 16 road games that year. Recall that Soldier Field was being ronovated, and the Bears had to play their home games in Gary, Indiana I believe -- which isn't exactly 10 minutes from Chicago. DJ was touted as an overachiever in 2003 for getting a severely undermanned unit (as a result of injuries and poor decisions made by Angelo in free agency) to finish 7-9. For comparison's sake, think about how our very own Bills underachieved under Gregg Williams to the tune of 6-10 that same year.

It's worth noting that both of Brady's TD passes on Sunday came with LBs defending -- and in both situations it was TKO's replacement that got beat. Also, remember that Crowell hs spent all spring and preseason playing WLB. With TKO out, they move him to TKO's SLB spot and put Ellison at the WLB position. In essence, we downgrade two spots.

I agree. I remember my reaction at the time was that I was glad that he protected the football and didn't turn it over down there. It wasn't like he held onto the ball too long or ran out of the endzone (like he did against TB last year) either. He had a defender in his face before he could set up, slid to his side, avoided that defender -- and then got slammed by another. Maybe he could have thrown the ball away after missing that first defender (I believe it was Warren), but he probably would have been flagged for intentional grounding and would have given up the safety anyway. For whatever reason, the national media simply does not want to show JP any love. Maybe that will change if we start winning some games.

I read somewhere that the Jets brought him in today for a look-see.

I actually found the comment very telling. Remember, that at the time of MM's resignation, Ralph said that MM told him that the main reason he was leaving was because he didn't like his family being subjected to the criticism of the fans in Western NY. Remember the teacher that supposedly asked if his kid was related to the "Soon to be Ex Bills coach"? The comment that Chambers was parroting from MM shows that MM bears some grudge against the fans in Buffalo. While Buffalo fans may be more rabid than those of other cities (i.e. Miami fairweather fans), the truth of the matter is that every NFL coach (and unfortunately his family too) is going to have to deal with this at some point or another. Clearly, MM hasn't got over this and probably never will. It's almost like he blames the city and fans for his own inadequacies. Talk about being thin skinned... Seems like he's happy in Miami hiding behind Saban.

If memory serves me correctly, he was a Supplimental Draft pick a couple of years ago. I think they actually forfeited a 2nd rounder for him.

Remember that the role of DTs in the Cover-2 differs than what the DTs are expected to do in the more traditional defense. Their job is to penetrate and create havoc at the line of scrimmage. It is the LBs that serve as primary tacklers. I think what's missed in what happpened against NE on Sunday is the sheer number of tackles that our LBs and DBs missed. I bet the Patriots racked up more than half of their rushing total AFTER initial contact.

Nah, just let the Raider players sneak up on him in the locker room with their collective bars of soap wrapped in towels...

Well, there was the well-designed snap over his head that resulted in a 20-yard pass to Josh Reed on that first offensive series. ;-)

I think HD was suggesting that TKO had ahold of Marcia's facemask. Given that Brady himself didn't even complain about it, I'd doubt that any penalty occurred.

That is true. However, at the least (assuming no turnover) it would have kept the ball in our hands for another 3 plays (and 2-3 minutes), even if the ultimate outcome would have been the same 3 points. It was a risk, no doubt -- and one that backfired. But I think DJ was just trying to show the team he had confidence in them. The reality also is that if we had come away with the TD or took the extra 2-3 minutes to go up by 13, then it would have forced the Pats to be more one-dimensional in their offense. It was clear in the first half that Brady was having trouble passing against our defense. However, the Pats were almost able to run at will. The net result -- especially given the 93-yard TD drive -- is that they were able to keep running the ball...

One thing that no one has talked about with that 4th down play (including the announcers) is the fact that the offense came racing back onto the field only 4 seconds left on the game clock. They barely had time to set up prior to the snap. That rouined any shot they had of a quick snap or an attempt by a hard-count to draw the defense off sides. They should have called a time out...

They'll say we were lucky and caught the Pats on a bad week when they were missing key contributors.

Bill Parcells once explained his philosophy on winning as such: "Find out what things you're doing that make you lose -- and then don't do those things." It sounds funny, it's so simple -- but that really is the case, isn't it? The truth is that the Patriots don't scare me. I don't think that we're going to have to score 40 points to win this, since their offense is banged up and missing quality receivers. It really comes down to NOT making the negative plays. I really believe that if the team can cut down on the penalties and avoid costly turnovers, that they REALLY have a shot at winning this one. There I said it...

Maybe you're a Good Luck Charm! The team was almost always in the playoffs back when you were going to those games in the late 80 and thru the 90s. They've sucked since you left after 1998... Many people think that this year feels like 1986 in that they will finish with a bad record but with tons of hope for the future.

It would be very ironic if we picked up Haynes. He was drafted with the pick that we gave up for Drew...

To a certain extent, I see where you are coming from because there are some similarities. Namely, their record last season was somewhat inflated by an easy schedule, just like ours was in 2004. However, unlike the MM and TD idiocy, they seem to understand that they weren't quite good enough and have done some things to make their team better. Remember, heading into last season TD and MM seemed to think that our defense was so good and our running game sound enough that we could get by with essentially a rookie QB. That isn't a knock on JP -- just that the defense and running game were't strong enough that we could win just by having the QB make minimal mistakes. Of course, TD made the same mistake after 2002, thinking that the Bledsoe-led offense was so good that with an improved defense we'd be Super Bowl bound. Well, he did improve the defense, but the offense fell apart.

They say that preseason games are not important, but I feel much more confident in JP heading into this season than last season based on what I saw in the preseason games this year versus the preseason games last year. The kid definitely has a gun -- and the athletic abillty to make some great plays. I hate to say it, but I really am glad that the expectations are so low heading into the season. Everyone is expecting us to finish 4-12 or 5-11. That will take pressure off JP, as the season is now being billed as his developmental season, rather than as one in which everything else seems to be in place provided that JP doesn't screw it up. That's what the caches were saying last year if you remember. Of course, there many reasons beyond JP for why we stunk so bad last season. JP is a big-play QB. That means that we will see him make some great plays that should help us win some games -- but he is also going to make some serious mistakes that will single-handedly cause us to lose games. I expect tons of excitement in that regard... both good and bad. I'm glad to see that the coaching staff is mindful of this already. Let's give the kid 16 starts with what looks so far to be a decent offensive coaching staff. If he is God awful -- and not showing signs of improvement down the stretch, then we'll know he's not the answer. But I just can't help but think that we may have the next Brett Favre on our hands, if the stars and moon align the right way. Bottom line: the onus is on all of us (fans and media alike) to be patient and not call for his benching early in the season. With two tough road games against NE and Miami to start the year, the chances are pretty good that he will struggle early on. It will be interesting to see how he rides the storm without a self-serving QB-killer like Moulds waiting in the wings. Remember, in Jim Kelly's first season as a starter, the team went 4-12. But we were all optimistic heading into the following year. I can live with a 4-12 season if it points us in a positive direction heading forward. Of course, winning 8 or more games wouldn't be bad either...

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I'd take him over Holcomb.

Primarily because there are plenty of items to analyze and coach the team on once they review the tape. Meanwhile, it did NOT seem that the team was physically dominated. For the most part they executed well -- with the exception of the major mistakes that occurred. Fortunatley, those mistakes were primarily mental, which means that they are correctable (as JP pointed out). Better to have these things happen in the preseason, where the coaches have time to harp on them prior to when the games really count. . From that perespective, when it's all said and done, as a coach you'd almost rather have an outing like that rather than a "mistake-free" one, which may give a false sense of security

Collins is what he is. A fairy bright guy with less than average physical tools, who serves well as a clipboard holder -- and is capable of coming in for a game or two (provided that the defense is decent enough to keep the opponents' scoring down) if the starter gets hurt. You know, kinda like Kelly Holcomb.

Could be... It is preseason after all.

No problem. Let Kelly get beaten to a pulp by that tough first-string Carolina defense, while JP comes out and lights up the Carolina backups. Good for the kid's confidence.