TC in St. Louis

You can't air your laundry in public like that! Didn't you see the Godfather slap Sonny in the face and say, "What's the matter with you!! Don't ever let somebody outside the family know what you're thinking!!" And ultimately, Sonny got cut down at the toll booth. Moulds will just get cut.

I hope we don't pick that high in the draft. The signing bonus/salary commitment creates huge cap problems, and limits the ability to work the free agent market. The Bills are not one player away from the Super Bowl. I'd trade out of any pick in the top 10, and try to get quantity and quality. I'll miss Eric Moulds, but he hasn't done much the past couple years anyway. He'll find a nice place, probably Denver, to finish out his career in style. Mike Williams? Sayonara. Use the cap savings to sign offensive linemen. Nate? Let Nate skate. Build a pass rush, and that makes any corner look better. There will be some good players coming back from injury. Spikes, Edwards, Everett....maybe solving the TE dilemma, albeit a year late. They will need help at safety. Vincent and Malloy are about to lose another step or two.

What about last night's game, on a national stage...the Eagles took a large steamer in front of America. They've gone from Super Bowl losers to just plain losers. They didn't wait till the 4th quarter to fold. How would you like to be an Eagle fan this morning? I am really pissed about Sunday's loss, and I'm not sure what I'm going to do besides tune in next Sunday and hope for the best.

I'd also like to thank the team for curing me of my unhealthy addiction to Buffalo Bills football. I did not see the game today, and I checked in to see just how morose you all feel.

I meant Oakland. Sorry. We lost the first half of the draft to injuries. And the core of the DL is gone. We were 2nd in the league in D last year, and now we are 31st. Injuries, attrition, aging all contribute. Letting Pat Williams go was a mistake. But I think TD thought the Williams/Adams/Anderson trio could do something. They are not getting it done, and the guys behind them aren't helping much. Well, Crowell is doing nice work, and Fletcher gets a lot of tackles, but Posey is a ghost. What they seem to lack more than anything is intensity. Hope they find it.

I know most people don't like excuses like this, but the injuries sustained this year have been extremely damaging. TD is actually a pretty good guy at planning ahead. He drafted Clemens anticipating Winfield's departure. He drafted Tim Anderson and Ron Edwards anticipating Pat Williams' departure. He drafted Losman, McGahee, Evans....but bad things happen. Why is it that we lose guys like Spikes, Edwards, Parrish, Everett to injury, and never guys like Coy Wire or Justin Bannan? Why, why why? The first 2 picks of this year's draft were hurt in training camp. Parrish is just starting to come around, and Everett is down for the year. Takeo's injury, combined with Edwards going down probably ruined the defense more than anything. Adams has failed to play hard, and Anderson/Bannan combo just shouldn't be the starting tandem. It was supposed to be Adams/Edwards with these guys coming in to spell one guy at a time. Mike Williams has been horrible this year. They expected him to finally play at a level commensurate with where he was drafted. Anderson can't pass block. Even with all these injuries, however, this team plays like a bunch of scared puppies on the road. There is no excuse for what happened in San Diego and Denver. They better come up this weekend, or fans will go nuts.

TD has had some bad luck. He tried to prepare for the loss of Pat Williams by betting on Ron Edwards coming to play (he's out for the year) and drafting Tim Anderson. Also, Fat Sam has not played up to his abilities. But the key was losing Spikes. The defense was great last year, and now it's a joke. San Fran paid top dollar for Jonas, and there is no way the Bills could afford to keep him. He thought he addressed the line, and Williams came up lame, and played poorly. Bennie Anderson can't pass block. Parrish missed a lot of games, Everett out for the year. I know injuries are part of the game, but what happened all but eliminated the first 3 rounds of this year's draft. People trash TD for picking Williams, but at the time that looked like a great pick. I personally was against the pick, because I thought they should've traded down....way down....and gotten a few picks for it. At the time, one tackle wasn't going to make that big a difference. Teams that are perennial winners, like the Bills used to be, benefit from picking at the end of the first round. They don't have to pay 10 million dollar bonuses for unproven guys, and you can still get great talent at the end of the round. Look at some of our guys. Henry Jones, John Fina, to name a couple....at the end of the first. Even JP Losman, at #23, and Willis, late first round, moderate signing bonuses and contracts.

I think Nate's play yesterday whittled 10 million bucks off his perceived value. But I think he's gone. If we can get Takeo and Ron Edwards back, that will make a significant difference. No pressure on Drew yesterday, so he stood back there and found the receivers. They had some pretty impressive routes, with borderline picks happening all over the place. Well-designed. Who's the stud on New England's O Line? They keep plugging holes with well-coached players and well-designed schemes. We have neither on that line.

I heard Dan Patrick on the radio today, trashing some teams for their embarrassing play yesterday. Tops on the list were the Rams, who allowed a 2-7 Arizona team to come into their home and dominate (6 yards rushing). He also mentioned the Jets, said they probably would've walked off the field in the 2nd quarter if it were allowable. He moved onto the Falcons, and finally the Fins for being shut out by the Browns. I thought the Bills were entitled to be one of, if not the number one most embarrassed team in football yesterday. They looked worse than they usually do on Sunday nights in New England. This year being the exception. Although they still found a way to lose that one.

On paper, we should have a pretty good offense. Willis is a stud, Moulds can still bring it, Evans has huge talent, although the tight ends are at best serviceable. Everett was drafted to take care of that, and you know what happened. The line just can't seem to get anything done. Williams, what a bust. Peters finally got exposed. The others are sort of castaways, but McNally has a history of creating good lines from castaways. The defense....what a disappointment that Bannan, Anderson, Edwards (hurt, pretty big loss there) and fat Sam can't clog up the middle. Losing Takeo was huge, and I just don't think Posey has ever had a good game for this team. That was a bad signing. Fletcher is having an off year too. The corners are solid, but Clements played like Chris Watson yesterday. This defense right now should be middle of the pack, and it looks like the bottom of the league. This team needs a mean streak. Not a cheap shot streak, but the mad dog type of intensity...like that linebacker from Baltimore. We don't have that. We should be a 9-7 type team, especially considering how the Jets and the Fins are playing, and the Pats not being dominant any more. I have to put it on the coaching.

I was in Raleigh at the Bills Backers place, and this was just the worst performance by the defense, maybe, ever. The only time I saw Posey all day was when he ruined that sack. We are missing a few guys, namely Takeo and the middle of the line, but the run defense wasn't the problem. I was there with my sister and her family, and we were talking about earlier in the year when the Bills defense said they wanted to be the best defense in history. And McGahee claiming he's the best RB in the league. And Clements wanting to be the highest paid corner. These guys just need to shut up and do their job. Josh Reed needs to be taken off the field. He drops too many passes. They need to work Parrish into the game, he was a 2nd round pick whom nobody could cover in preseason. I don't know what happened to McNally, I thought he was the best in the business. He can't get these guys to play ball. It's harder and harder to tell people I'm a Bills fan. Although that may be an exaggeration. I don't think anybody knows much about them, nor do they care. Here in Rams country I just sit in amusement and wonder about the futility of this team that was in the Super Bowl a few years ago. They stink, and their former MVP came in and carved them to shreds.

I've gotta go to Raleigh-Durham this Sunday night (doing a Brian Regan show), and my sister and her family are driving over from Charlotte. Anybody know where the Bills fans meet in R-D? A few weeks ago you guys sent me to the right place in Columbus, and I watched the Falcons whoop our arses. Takeo got hurt. I was wearing a Rams shirt because my son had vomited on my Bills jersey that morning. This time I promise to wear the right thing.

I was on the phone with my buddy the KC fan, and told him RC hates the Bills and would be trashing them all day. My friend kept calling and quoting RC. One was something like, "Kansas City is playing desperate because they are losing a game they should be winning." Pardon me, but were the Bills not favored in this game? Also, he kept talking about KC's miscues costing them the game. Their guy missed 2 FG against the wind, over 40 yards. Our guy missed 2 shorties with the wind at his back. Also, what about Holcomb's fumble? That drive should've been worth at least 3. Add the 2 gimme field goals, and the Bills could've won 23-3. The Bills won despite making many errors and not moving the ball very much. Their defense came up huge, especially in the 2nd half.

I'm not sure if this move is because Jason Peters is better than Mike Williams. Maybe Jason is better than Bennie Anderson, and they feel it would be an easier adjustment to put MW at guard than JP.

I never liked the Mike Williams pick at #4. I had hoped they would trade down, because they were so bad that one player could not possibly have made that big a difference. There are very few linemen chosen that high these days that can make an immediate impact. As I recall, McKinnie was alleged to have attitude problems, and his lengthy holdout seemed to support that theory. But, when you choose a guy that high in the draft, you expect that he will become a Pro Bowl calibre player. Williams has been mediocre to good, and I thought McNally would get him on a roll. Injuries have not helped.

I like Tom Donahoe. It's been rough being a fan the past few years, but at least we had some feeling of optimism at the end of last year. He took some calculated risks at the end of the year, letting Jennings and Williams go. I agreed with him there, I don't think Jennings is worth that kind of dough, although Williams' deal seemed affordable. Obviously, he felt that it was time for Edwards and his draft choices to fill Williams' spot. I think that might have worked, had Spikes not been injured. Mike Williams' health has had a major effect on the line. Had MW played even close to his potential, nobody would question TD's selecting him so early in the draft. McGee has been a great player, considering where he was chosen. McGahee was also a major steal. Jury is still out on Losman. Maybe he will pan out. Evans is suffering the sophomore slump, and nobody seems to be able to get him the ball. Fletcher was a great pickup at LB. Posey has never impressed me. I think we would've been better off keeping Jay Foreman. A position that continues to frustrate me is TE....when will we ever get us a tight end who can contribute to this offense? Overall, I'm satisfied with Tom Donahoe's work with the team. He's a lot smarter than I when it comes to football. Injuries are part of the game, to be sure. They are not an excuse. However, losing Takeo Spikes for the year probably added 25 yards per game to the defensive statistics. Much like having JP as QB subtracted 50 ypg from the offense. Put those together and you've got problems.

I would've thrown the flag, because at first glance it looked like a forward pass. I was on the phone with a friend who called to congratulate me on the win, and I said, "don't worry, they'll find a way to screw this up." and he shouted "forward pass!" before I could, (like "in the crease"). So, I think the flag should've been thrown. But the absolute reality is, they did not stay in their lanes. That is why the play worked. You are correct. Well, let me rephrase that. I agree with you.

They had the top 10 trick plays of all time, and again we are the goat. Home Run Throwback. I had the tivo on, so I watched the play a few times. It was a forward pass. As the pass is being released, our defender is across the line reaching toward Wycheck, and his arms don't reach the passer. The ball is then thrown, and caught across the line, a few inches above the ground. I never looked at our defender before, I was always looking at the throw. But our guy was clearly across the line reaching for Wycheck. I'll say the ball was thrown forward at least 5 feet. So, the trick play shouldn't have worked. I remember at least 2 other crappy calls in the game. Peerless caught about a 20 yard pass, called incomplete, and we couldn't challenge. Another....Tennessee missed a field goal right before half, and we got called for Defensive Holding, so they moved it up 5 yards and they got the 3 pointer. Another play involved McNair running out of bounds short of the first down, Tennessee was lining up to punt, the refs blew the whistle, looked at it, and gave them the first down. Which led to that field goal. It was a horrible game.

and I knew that you would know that. Last night that Pat tried to do the same thing to Willis. He shook it off.

Tedy had a mild stroke. It's not like the guy in Five Easy Pieces who just sat there and stared at Nicholson for 2 hours. His stroke was a blessing, it alerted the docs to that heart condition, which undetected could've blown up and killed him someday. He'll live longer as a result of that little stroke.

I think Moulds and the guy pushed each other, but Eric's a little stronger, so it looked like he interfered. It was an unnecessary call. But the Bills had chances to stop the Pats, and they did not get it done. It was a valiant effort on the road, much better effort than they showed in Oakland. Maybe there is hope. Chiefs will be tough, they've got a strong offense, but not much defense. Who's favored?

Tedy had a little brain aneurism, and he got it fixed. He just had to lie there in the hospital while some surgeon fixed his heart, and he soon got a clean bill of health! Now, McGahee, well, his knee was shredded by that Buckeye, and some people thought he'd never walk again, let alone become a pro football player. He worked his arse off for a long long time. My vote goes to Willis. I say, next time the Bills are on National TV, we should fillibuster for some props for my man McGahee. I don't even know what I'm talking about, just offering a point of view that isn't necessarily mine.

I have TIVO, and it only took one replay to see that the flag for offensive pass interference was thrown after Moulds caught the ball. The alleged infracton occurred prior to the break toward the ball....and the ref waited till Moulds caught the ball to make his decision. It reminded me of a playoff game in the early 80's vs. Cinci when the Bills were inside the 20 trying to tie the game, on a 4th and 5 they called timeout. Came back on the field and hit Lou Piccone for a first down, and he was hit in the back with a flag on his way out of bounds. The call? delay of game. When has delay of game ever been called after the play has been executed? After a timeout? Just like tonight. The ref waited till he saw the outcome of the play, decided he did not like the outcome, because it would involve taking his lips off the base of Bruschi's "unit" for a second to throw the flag. yet he did so anyway. Took the game away. The refs always do this when we play the Patriots.

how come they only have one camera angle when reviewing calls against the patriots, yet every other challenge in the league has at least 5 different angles on the play? That was not a catch, even from that crappy angle. and i don't believe that was the only camera on the play at that time, especially on a nationally televised game.

there were a bunch of bad calls tonight. it was clear to me that the Pats had to win the game, for the good of the league. the first 7 minutes of the broadcast were all about Bruschi, the word Bills was mentioned twice.