Buftex

I guess I am falling for the Patriots/Belichik hype...if he agreed to trade Wilfork to us, i would back out of that deal so fast...

I'm no coach either...but I don't think so!

Nineteen...it took 19 posts....shame on you jboyst!

You are absolutely right... I feel bad for beig overly critical about the finale. I was just kind of chastized by a screenwrtier friend of mine, for sharing my opinion of the finale... he made me "see the light" a little more brightly.

I think this has been the best season, by far. I honestly was pretty close to scratching this from my short list of shows I have to see every week. I know I said it earlier, but the show was so lacking in character development up til this season, I was losing interest... I really think the best episodes, throughout the history of the show, have been the ones that isolate one or two characters... Incidentally, what we have been seeing in the last 4 weeks is actually the second part of season four, so we are actually 10 or 11 episodes in to the season, with 3 more left. Kind of the new standard for cable series.

Oy vey!

Seriously, if you don't want to head into the season with Lewis and Tuel as your backups, who are better options than Campbell? Michael Vick? Matt Schaub? There isn't a lot out there. If you look at more than just career stats, and go inside the numbers, you will see that Campbell had very good years from 2008-2011. Started 54 games in those 4 years, posting QB ratings of 84.3, 86.4, 84.5, 84.2...a 52/33 td/int rate...then he lost his job to injury in Oakland, a move most any Raiders fan will tell you was nuts... if the Bills were to sign him, he would be far and away, their most accomplished QB. Yeah, it is pretty silly...

I realize Campbell isn't an exciting pick as a backup, but he has up some pretty decent numbers over the years, on some of the NFL's worst/most dysfunctional teams. It is fun to just say "no thanks"...but people saying this are the same ones who will complain about how much Lewis and Tuel suck.

You are probably right, but I can't find anywhere how many games Tuel was on the active roster. I think the rule is that a player with one accrued NFL season can go on the PS, if he has been active in no more than 8 games. I am fairly certain he was active game day up through, at leats, week 10. He would have been EJ, and then Lewis back-up...after that he would have only been in-active for the handful of games that EJ and Lewis were both healthy at the same time. So I am betting he was active for at least 12 games.

I have to say, I keep hearing Shaun Hill mentioned in connection to the Bills, and I understand why, with the connection to our new QB coach...but why is it that I can't remember a seeing this guy take a single snap in the NFL? I know he did, mostly from 2008-10 with the 49ers and Lions...career 85.9 QB rating...but what is his style? Is he mobile? Arm strength?

I haven't yet been able to find the silver lining in this... Unfortunatley, when you are pushing 50 and single, everyone assumes you are gay, creepy, or both.

Maybe I have been grown too accustomed to watching ****ty QB play, but I really think Lewis was not that bad, considering all the extenuating circumstances last year... he definitely has to protect the ball better, but he made some plays... not as sold on Tuel, but I think the Bills still like him. Take away the bad pick-six in the Chiefs game, and he wasn't all bad.

I don't know... I think we could do worse, but I kind of like Lewis. I believe Tuel is still practice squad eligible? If so, put him on the PS, sign Campbell, and keep Lewis too?

I remember when you used to have a pretty good sense of humor... http://www.theguardi...e-traffic-boost

Sorry, what is "Vikings"? What channel? Never heard of it. Kind of curious about the new show coming up on AMC called "Turn". It is about "America's first spies" during the Revolutionary War. It's right up my alley, as long as they don't take huge liberties with history. I know there will be some...looks intriguing. I loved the first six episodes...the last two were a little disappointing for me. It was so much better than most things on tv, but in the end, just took the easy way out, in my book. I still enjoyed it, but was underwhelmed by the finale. Great acting til the end... beautiful to see, but such a trite ending to something that was, dare I say, masterfully constructed. I actually got a chill down my spine from the last scene of episode 6, where 2012 Rust and Marty finally encounter each-other. Show had me in the palm of its' hands right there...but then the story just went down like something I feel like I have seen a million times, complete with Steven Spielberg "deep" ending. Not to take anything away from the production, the acting... or Nic Pizzolato...in the end, it just seemed like his bite was bigger than his belly.

I had the same excuse the last 12 years....not so anymore... Now I am just an utterless ship!

Is Radice's still open for business?

I don't know... maybe I am just a working class schlub, and big numbers are beyond my comprehenison...but 4 years at 13.5 million, 5.5 million guranteed doesn't sound like a whole lot for a 6 year vetran starting linemen. Does it?

I don't go to the web-site, but I watch the daily "Pro Football Talk" show on tv, as often as I can. I like it. I like Florio too. When speaking of impending free-agency, Florio seemed, to me at least, to be pretty much on the side of the Bills in regards to the Byrd situation... I think it is my favorite football info show on tv... I think they all do that. I heard our own Takeo Spikes on John Murphys show last night...saying all kinds of nice things about the Bills organization, his time in Buffalo, the fans.... but just a week or two ago, on NFLN, when previewing free agency he chimed in with the tried and (not so) true addage that "Buffalo doesn't like to pay people"

Right...it just took the Bills coaching staff about 6 games to realize that. Go back and watch the last six minutes or so of the season opener against New England. I won't say that it caused them to lose, but it certainly decreased their chances of winning. I normally watch the games at a bar, so at times, I miss things like this...when I was re-watching that game though, in my own home, no distractions, it was killing me how little moxy the Bills were showing in running out the clock...Dierdorf was going ape-**** over it....and he was right.

I like Whaley so far... I have really been down on this franchise for about 5 or 6 years...but this past season was the first in a while where I actually think we are on to something. Of course, I am also one of those who doesn't think that EJ Manuel is near the trainwreck that so many here seem to think. Sometimes I think we get so mired in the misery of the last 15 years, that it colors our vision of what is happeing now. Been rewatching the 2013 season, and I think a lot of his good moments have been forgotten. He had two extremely awful games (Pittsburgh & Tampa Bay), a few very good games (Carolina, 2nd Jets game, Atlanta) and 5 games where he was just "okay"... what I did like about him, win or lose, he did play well in "clutch" situations... I also think, he got more tentative as the season went on...perhaps too aware of the boo-birds... and, though I didn't feel as strongly about it at the time, upon further review, particularly early in the season, I think the "no-huddle" hurt the offense, and Manuel. Imagine if they get the ball back, up by 1 point, with about 5:30 left in the game, and try to run the clock out, or at the very least, make New England use those three timeouts they had. Not saying they would have won, but I would have liked their chances a lot more than the chances they had of winnnig the game with two consecutive "3 and outs" by the offense.

I think that everyone is disappointed we lost Byrd. But I think some are just not thinking clearly on this. Sure, the Bills had the cap space to pay him this year...but at what cost down the road? Guys like Dareus, Spiller, are going to have to be re-signed before too long. As has been said, over and over, you just can't pay everyone what they want... I get the sentiment that they should have, at the very least, tagged him, to get something for him. But, I think Whaley took a gamble that Byrd was not going to get the money he thought he would. He lost, but it was a good gamble as far as I am concerned. If the Saints, a pretty unlikely suitor by most accounts (given their cap issues) hadn't stepped up, it is very likely Byrd will still be considering the Bills offer today, and for a while to come. A friend of mine, a Saints fan, is complaining that the Saints, with all their woes, just went out and over-payed for a safety, when the market had already been set for about 1.5 million less...not a huge amount of money, but when you are cutting guys, and trading guys like Sproles, and in a contract squabble with, now, your best passing weapon (Graham), so you can work around the monster deal you signed your QB for, you really have to wonder what teams are thinking... the Byrd deal may be temporary gratification for some in New Orleans, but you really have to wonder if it closes their window of opportunity a little earlier. I guess a lot of that will hinge on what happens with Graham. Colston is getting older, and has always been erratic...Ingram is average at best...

Yesterday, Whaley said that Carrington, Carpenter, Chandler and Moats had all been made offers. So far, Carpenter is the only to re-sign. Heard last night that Chandler had a visit scheduled with the Lions. I know, a lot of people are not crazy about Chandler, and I understand that, there are better tight ends out there...but not a lot of them. Chandler may not be from that A group, but I think he is in the next tier. Without him, we have a whole lot of unknown. I like the potential of Moeaki and Gragg, but they are no sure thing.... I think he will get a decent offer from someone else.

There was another article linked this week, from somewhere on the internet, titled something like "Move over Austin, Buffalo is America's new "It" City". A poorly written "article" (can we expect anything more) that does a nice job of extolling the virtues of WNY culture, art, etc etc...but then just glosses over the fact that the employment situation is miserable. I have been toying with a move back to WNY (from Austin), but am having a difficult time to committing to it, without any real job prospects. I love Buffalo, but I gotta eat...

Call me a homer if you must, but I am glad the Bills didn't offer this kind of money to Byrd. The Bills, as a franchise, (like most every franchise) have determined that spending 9 million a year on a safety is foolish... it has negative repercussions for the future of your salary structure.