vegas55

Texans stayed with their offense last night and scored a grand total of 10 points. How many games would the Bills win if they stuck with that and scored 10 points. ( You ignore the obvious, lousy conditions don't necessarily hurt an offense, and you ignore the even more obvious, the Texans running back (Foster) ran for well over 100 yards, so the conditions can't be blamed for Bears running woes. They were playing on the same field !

The media critics in particular (none of whom played football at anything higher than high school level and the vast majority of whom never watch game film) blasted Chan's play selection against Houston, and assured us that Texan defensive plan showed the league the blueprint on how to stop Chans offense. In particular, they ridiculed Chans statement that running the ball into the teeth of the Texans would be counterproductive, that the spread offense gave the offense it's best chance. "Chan just doesn't get it, you gotta keep running the ball" was the consensus. Chan sticks to his offense and the result is an offensive explosion against Pats. In fact Chans offense has produced plenty of points this year; look at the point production overall. Certainly enough offense has been produced this year to produce a winning record. It's the D that's the problem Better yet, critics, look at Texans v Bears game last night. Bears, unlike Bills v Texans, were playing at home, and produced a grand total of 6 points, 3 in each half. This despite the many more possessions the Bears offense received via the great Bears defense stopping Texans (as opposed to Bills D). And one of reasons the Bears O struggled so badly was they kept running Forte into the teeth of Texans defense, with very little success. About 2 yards per carry. A lot of wasted plays there. Kind of what Chan was trying to say. But our local media "experts" know better. "Chans an idiot for not running the ball more" was the cry, but I can bet you now none of them will mention Bears futility against Texans, how that contradicts their expertise in how to run an NFL offense. I doubt many of them even watched the Bears game.

Clearly Chans expertise is offense, and he leaves the defense to Wanny. That's not unusual in the NFL. It would also be extremely unusual for a head coach to intervene in the middle of a game and over ride a defensive call by his DC.

It's just too easy for all the "experts" out there to insist that Chan is clueless because of his failure to call more running plays. The reality is that this is a passing league, as demonstrated by last years Superbowl, where both teams were last and close to last in the running game. It's noted as well that the only team to beat Houston this year (and beat them badly) was a team that spread them out. Chans offense is all about creating mismatches, and that was done in the passing game. Three consecutive passes to start the 2nd half generated a lot of criticism, but if Chandler doesn't flat out drop an easy pass for an 8 yard gain on first down, the whole dynamic changes. And it was the end of the first half, where the Bills picked up huge chunks of yards in a short period of time, by passing the ball. The fact of the matter is that teams that run the ball real well, who have the NFL's leading rushers, do not have much success in the won loss department. A big difference in the game was that when the Bills got in position to score, Wade brought the blitz in a big way, disrupting their red zone offense. On Houston's last touchdown, on a third down play Schaub had at least 6 seconds to find an open guy, as Wanny, for the umpteenth time this year, chooses to play passive on important, red zone plays ( ie see Titans game).

Talk about a mismatch. It's been discussed elsewhere the curves Wade Phillips threw at the Bills O, which in short was simply putting his defense in the best position to succeed, taking away what the Bills do best. Contrast that with what we saw from Wanny. On third and long, a long pass is completed to Andre Johnson. On this play, as was the case most of the day, Aaron Williams is singled up on Johnson, who far and away is the Texans best receiver. Bills don't blitz, so they have 7 back in coverage. You might think with 7 back, coverage would be rotated over to take away Texans number one threat, especially since our (struggling) second best cb has the coverage. But no, as was the case most of the day, on third down Johnson faced single coverage with no help. With predictable results. That's just too easy for any QB to read and complete. There is a coach named Bill in New England who has made a hall of fame coaching career out of a simple concept - take away an offenses top threat. On third downs Andre Johnson was Texans #1 threat, and Wannys schemes treated him like he was just another guy.

I don't agree with many who blame Wanny for what's bordering on a historically bad defense, but watching the final Titans drive has to have you shaking your head over his defensive calls/decisions. With just a little over 2 minutes and Titans facing 3rd and one, you had to expect a run, since the two minute warning was going to stop the clock anyway. But Wanny has his two linebacker, prevent defense in and the Bills D was just outmanned on Johnson's 27 yard run. On the other hand, on the 4th and 9, you had to be expecting pass. But George Wilson gets frozen trying to decide who to help in coverage, Byron Scott covering the tight end who was breaking over the middle into or Rodgers covering WR Washington. He ends up doing neither. But why, on a play that has to be a pass, is a linebacker covering a receiving tight end. Specifically why is McKelvin not out there instead. He can cover a TE like that in his sleep, and maybe Wilson can have an easy decision to help the cornerback who is only in his second year, was a 7 rd pick, and who had just got burned for a 17 yard reception on a second and 18 situation. First round pick, McKelvin, with all his mad athletic talent, was our 3rd corner, covering the slot, the entire training camp and pre season. But I guess a bad game in the opener has him banished to the bench. I believe he is a better cover corner than Justin Rodgers, but I know he can cover a tight end better than any linebacker we have. He should have been out there in coverage on what was an obvious passing play, there was no need for a linebacker there. And that's on Wanny.

Actually if you look at the film, it was 4th and 11; and even worse, it was LB Scott covering Fitzgerald. So those are the exact facts - but what the hey. The point remains the same, the defensive scheme/call in that critical situation was brutal.

A win covers a lot of blemishes but you have to be shaking your head over defensive coordinator Wannstedt and his defensive calls/schemes. I love that Gilmore lobbied to cover Fitzgerald, and did a great job to boot, but with the game on the line, 4th and long, the Cardinals simply line Fitzgerald up in the slot and all of a sudden it's a safety (Wilson) covering Fitzgerald instead of a corner/Gilmore. And they easily pick up a 4th and 17 because of that mismatch. Almost cost us the game. It just can't be made that easy for an offense to simply line up their best receiver in the slot and get a match up with a safety. The defensive scheme just has to be better/ more sophisticated than that.

Well it was just a great coaching decision. In a situation where you are running the ball up the middle with the intent to overpower the defense, choose the one running back of three available, the smallest back with a bum shoulder. That's the back you want running up the gut of the defense.

The N Y Jets only productive offensive day was against the Wanny defensive game plan. Everybody else has stopped them cold. 600 yards of Patriots offense should convince anybody that this 1990s relic cannot coach a defense in the 2012 version of the NFL.

Is there a solid chance that Saturday's game v Steelers will sell out, given the kids day promotion etc ?

If Ralph left the Bills to his wife, she would not, as his spouse, owe any inheritance taxes. Inheritance taxes only come into play when a non spouse ( child etc) inherits. Ralph has stated that he does not want his wife to own/operate the team, but has never explained why. It's hard to believe, given the history of this franchise, she could do any worse than Ralph. But obviously with his estate his children from first marriage come into play

Ryan Fitzpatrick " I just go out and throw, nobody's ever taught me how to do it. I knew I had along way to go with my mechanics, but I never knew how to improve it or find that person (coach) to help me". Really? The NFL is only the biggest sport by far in the country, a multi billion dollar business, and the QB position is by far the most important (and best paid). But in his entire NFL career Fitz never had any coaching in the area of throwing mechanics. Can you imagine a professional golfer, or MLB hitter/pitcher never receiving any coaching/instruction on mechanics. It's unbelievable in a sport so big and a position so important he received virtually no instruction/coaching in throwing mechanics. And hey, Fitz, I know your a smart guy and all, but with an NFL career and millions of dollars on the line, I would think you would have, on your own, at some point in any offseason found a QB coach to work with you on your throwing mechanics. I know that they are out there. It's really a strange attitude by Fitz as an individual, and any NFL team that had employed him, to not obtain or provide this type of critical coaching. Tiger Woods is arguably the greatest golfer of all time, and he constantly works with a coach on mechanics. And proper mechanics are critically important in any sport. To have never received coaching in that area is mind boggling.

He was horrible last year, and after several games he admitted as much. He was making too much money to play as inconsistently as he had.

That's easy - Wanakah Grill in Hamburg/Lakeview - the owner is a draft nut like many of us.

The Jets are desperate for a chance to draft Melvin Ingram. It certainly fills a need for them, and he should be there at 10. Bills pull the trigger on this trade down, can grab Glen or possibly Gilmore with Jets pick. A lot of options either way, and the extra picks would be nice in this deep draft.

It's always interesting when fans give their endorsements to and/or evaluations of the play of an offensive lineman. It's impossible, even for experienced football folks, to watch a game, follow the action, and still follow the play of an individual O lineman. Even coaches have to wait to review (several times) game film, and breakdown the film, to properly evaluate the play of an O lineman. IT CANNOT be done by simply watching the game. One guy who does this is Chan Gailey. In a recent interview, when asked about Hairston, he was anything but "very happy" with Hairston's play. But maybe Chan is wrong and the posters on this board, who love Hairston, got it right.

Than a ESPN "analyst", especially a former NFL guy, who is afraid to give an opinion, despite the fact that they are getting paid to do just that. I thought ESPN paid their guest/analysts, especially former NFL types, to provide insight and opinion. In a typical Mangini appearance this morning on Cowhert show, he was asked if he thought, in his opinion, whether Tebow acquisition would work for the Jets. His answer "it could work". That's not an answer! Anything could work. But to top it off, he was then asked if he ( Mangini) would have made the deal for Tebow. His answer/opinion was, and I quote, " I don't know". So he can't even offer an opinion on what he himself would do? Wow. Right out of the Mike Golic school of no opinion broadcasting. In fact, yesterday, Golic gave the exact same "it could work" answer to the same Tebow question.

For most, Merriman's season was a huge disappointment. Much of that due to injury, and the perception when he was playing that he failed to get enough sacks. His level of play was underrated last year. He was strong against the run, and when he went out, the run defense did suffer dramatically. And he did get pressure on the qb, and did get a lot of attention from O line. And his performance in training camp and preseason games was no fluke. But consider a healthy Merriman, assisted by a reduced role as primarily a pass rusher. Our D line, with Mario on the right, and Merriman coming off the left edge. A qb nightmare.

It's funny how any criticism of how the Bills front office operates is met with total defensiveness or comments like the above from low income, low iq types. Here's a secret that the entire NFL knows - the Bufffalo organization and it's football / personnel decisions are among the worst in NFL - and have been for a long time.

We draft a Demetrius Bell, patiently work to develop him into a fairly talented and consistent LT, and after 4 years and just as he hits the prime of his career, we let him go. So we now must use our # 1 pick on an LT prospect, who may or may not be a successful player, who will not in his rookie year be as good as Bell. So we have to suffer through the rookie pangs at one of the most important positions on the field. So again we have to wait for guy to develop, and depth remains a problem. How do you get better operating like this. The answer is you don't and that's why it been a decade + since we made the playoffs Same is true with Roscoe. Finally develops into the dangerous slot receiver he was envisioned to be when we used a second round pick on him. He can't cost that much, knows the offense and depth at wide receiver was a huge problem last year. Both these guys have had injuries issues, but having an injury in one year does not mean you will be injury prone for the rest of your career

There is no such thing as a "quality pass rusher" being still available in the second round. The ability to consistently get to the qb is a very rare talent, second only to that of a quality qb. Any player with that rare skill will be taken in round one, anything else is a complete crapshoot. Not that it can't happen (Brady a 6 round pick), but you cannot expect a quality pas rusher to fall into round 2. With 10 pick, you have to go with best plater available.

If this rib injury story was true, the Bills violated NFL policy by not disclosing it. The whole NFL policy in this area is designed to insure that this type of inside information is disclosed to all, and not "insider" type info that gamblers could use to gain an advantage. That's the entire purpose of those long injury reports that are ( probable, doubtful etc) done every week.

Interesting comment from Donte Whitner re Marshawn Lynch - basically that Lynch was overweight and out of shape when he played for Bills. Just one more terrible first round pick, this one courtesy of the owner himself. I know Lynch has talent, but he had a terrible attitude and was a lousy fit in Buffalo.