ChesterRocCo

True, many fans often underestimate the amount of physical/mental effort that athletes put into their game year round. At no fault of their own, there aren't many people who can live up to a 100 mil contract. I would like to point out though that not halfway through the season Mario is on course for his best year of production in the sack category. Even without that outstanding Carolina game he could still make a run at a career high. http://espn.go.com/n.../mario-williams

That right there. The guy has gone through a good deal of injuries and maybe he will start missing a game here or there but he hasn't yet. I can understand the idea that he may not get the production as in years past but so many variables factor into that. Having more options at receiver, a rookie QB, poor offensive play calling and tons of 3 and outs being only a few of them. SJ is not a pricey player and if you rid of him Woods will command more top corner coverage making him less effective. However I do believe that Woods will be that top WR in the future. Three consecutive 1,000 yard seasons with Tredwards and Fitztmagic as his QB. I really like SJ at slot and a single big game can have him on track for another 1k yard season. He isn't Calvin Johnson He never has anything negative to say about his team and he actually wants to be Buffalo unlike many players in the past. He is good to the fans and will be the first to admit a mistake. Sometimes he says some ballsy things but in comparison to many NFL'rs off the field issues he isn't a distraction. For his fair salary and being drafted in 7th he is a very good value at WR. Poor coaching, drafting, QB play, defensive play, and a lack of fire under the Bill's arses over the last few years has cost us far more wins than 2 or 3 SJ drops. People like to say he is not a #1 receiver but for the most part he has done the best with what he has. A lack of talent around him or the FO inability to get another top WR talent doesn't diminish what he has done. On the open market i would bet Jersey, Miami and, NE would all offer the guy a contract. I think he would be a stud at slot in NE. People act as though we deserve top talent or we should have a better WR than SJ. We are the Bills, we have been a joke for a decade. If guys like Marshall, Bryant, Jones, Green, Fitzgerald jump to sign in Buf over the next few years as FA's then maybe we can start talking about the shortcomings of SJ, but for now he has been one of the most productive WR's in Bills history. There are so many other players that don't pull their weight we can use as scapegoats, even at the WR position. I know that i have veered dangerously off topic but i digress.... Dictated, not written Steven Johnson Jr

This is how teammates turned competitors act. From my experience I wouldn't consider this trash talk, not even the slightest. Just shootin the poop.

Yea, with all his shortcomings as a head coach most of us probably wrote of any of his down home fixins about limiting CJ's run to maximize effectiveness. I still think CJ can rebound from a slow start, being a feature back, as long as the other young players improve and become more of a threat and Hackett evolves his scheme throughout the season. Until then

Kind of funny how last year the offense looked rather good with a limited amount of talent and the defense was more of an issue. Although the D didn't look great today I would put some of that on all those three and outs. I actually have liked how they have been using Fred on short yardage and at times I think the guy puts the team on his back. But they are not getting CJ is space, and that might be the biggest offensive failure in the first three games. I would consider with all the blitzing today there would have been a few great opportunities for a couple screen plays. I'm not going to say Chan was a great head coach but I keep finding myself day dreaming of EJ and the speedy new receivers running his spread scheme.

The 49'ers logo looks like the Denver Nuggets logo if you don't look at it very long, and the Denver Nuggets logo looks like the Sabres logo if you don't look at it very long.

I second all of the above. Went to the home opener last year when i was living in nyc. The fans were not really all that loud. Everyone around me spent more time talking crap, talking to friends and complaining about this or that instead of watching the game. The stadium and parking lot/tailgating area doesn't have any character. i found the entire experience rather bland. The best part were the countless morbidly obese New Jersey fans in my section who called me various homophobic and antisemitic names. Especially the guy with two 7ish aged kids and a wife who told me i looked like a j#w bag. I think his kids have a bright future. I bought second row endzone tickets and thought maybe there would be less of this. I sat quietly with my father and watch buffalo get creamed, and got tons of bs from Jets fans who were too drunk to stand and too out of shape to make it up the stairs without a break or three. *Also excited to see if Mario shows up against Howard after last years performance.

If the question really was "why do you think you can compete with the patriots?" almost anything he says will come off as bulletin material. Also interesting he said there are receivers in the locker room who could be better than himself. I know a lot of people want to get on him for this type of talk but pro athletes and professional teams aren't going to say "hey we are 3-23 i don't think we can win." This kind of attitude pushes players to their potential. Even if most players won't say it they should think it or else we can enjoy another decade of missing the playoffs Maybe he could have said the standard "because we are a new team, we are prepared, blah blah" but its Stevie, that's who he is. Before you talk about if he is really a number 1 receiver consider he has been one of the consistent bright spots on bad teams with bad qbs. If you read the article what he is saying is not that outlandish.

AZ is over the top on drinking. Went to school in Temp, my friend and I got kicked out of a D backs game because she was holding my beer while I was in the bathroom (open plastic cups near splashing bodily fluids is probably my only phobia) Tried to intimidate me by saying i could be charged for serving a minor or something along those lines. Worse, got ID'd by a cop who was driving down the street while my 20 year old roommate was helping me carry in the groceries and had a six pack in his pile of stuff. He told me my multiple NY IDs were fake and that it was a felony to forge an ID, had to get my passport to get my ID back. 10 minutes later after backup arrived he told me that if i gave my 20 year old roommate a beer in our house i could be charged "so make sure you don't serve him, or i'll be back". I asked him why they didn't spend more time worrying about the meth heads and prostitutes the next block over. No answer.

Im in Colorado and many companies are trying to figure out how/if they should enforce this. I have friends who work for multinationals and small locals and from what i have found in the papers and through others is that a company will either choose to comply with federal law or state law. So companies like Level 3/ global crossing, comcast/nbc that have big centers here comply with federal law and can fire you for testing positive. A local company would likely comply with state law and be more forgiving if they did test. In the case of the NFL, given they operate in many different states could stick with the federal law and really not be challenged. Some business will not hire cigarette smokers given the potential health care costs so im sure they could deny weed smokers for some reason or another. Also for those talking about adderall, it is a controlled substance (amphetamine) and not completely legal. Possession of one pill of adderall without prescription can get you in deeper than an ounce plus of marijuana in a surprising amount of states. While it is easy to get a script i would assume a lot of these guys wouldn't considering the constant stream of NFL guys getting caught with out gun permits or not having the foresight to take a cab when drunk.

Never thought about what it would be like to have 4 or 5 quality receivers and a couple of qbs all drafted together in the same year. Could help with the team chemistry and help to keep some of these guys in Buffalo down the road. It's mostly contingent on their success over the next few seasons. Being optimistic though it will be interesting to see the potential of this offense group in 3 - 5 years and who is still around.

I know quite a few people dislike Smith around here but i wouldn't be surprised to see him stay for one more year. Really the only veteran besides SJ that will be competing for a starting job. With all the rookie WRs it might be worth having an older guy like Smith around, and he has been doing well in the off season practices from what i have heard/watched. He also has that versatility factor that the new staff is preaching. It would also be cool if they could have success working Kaufman in as a passing TE.

Apparently Smith has done well with both Kolb and TJax in the voluntary workouts. I know he is expensive but i wouldn't be surprised if they kept him around considering Stevie will probably be the only other veteran WR on the roster.

Just watched a bit of the Kaufman kid on youtube and keeping in mind all the coaches talk about drafting versatile players. With the crowded receiver lineup i wonder if they are going to try and work this kid in as a passing TE. he has got the size but not necessarily the weight (i see him listed at 215) and i don't know about his blocking ability. His receiving ability however could create potential mismatches with linebackers. Im mostly hoping they can maximize all this young talent and work these different weapons in simultaneously.

Last year i went to week 1 against the Jets thinking Buf would compete but im going to tone it back this year. Realistically the bills should be able to compete with the panthers, browns, chiefs, bucs, and jags. Jets and dolphins could be potential toss ups, especially if Ryan Tannehill faces a sophomore slump and the qb circus continues in New Jersey. They could upset a couple of the better teams along the way or lose to the aforementioned weaker teams. That being said I think 8-8 would be an accomplishment.