Dan

The Bills are currently 3-3. They are tied with the division lead, and nearly half the other teams in the AFC. Chan has been steadfast behind Fitz since he began starting. Fitz just helped us beat the Cards on the road. If anyone truly thinks Fitz is going to get benched anytime soon, you're delusional.

Brady goes down for the season, and the Pats* still get 11 wins. Manning goes down for the season, and the Colts get the number 1pick in the draft. Enough for me

I agree. The game was by no means ideal. But, after 2 embarassingly horrible losses, the team needed to stop the trainwreck. They did that. They played hard and got a road win against a good team. It wasn't pretty. But, it should give them a little confidence. And, with luck, be a key game in turning this season around!

Excellent point, as well. The Bills were lucky, yeah. But, they also made some plays and beat a good team. Carrington's tip of the ball was huge!! Just as were Byrd's ints and Spiller's play. The Bills finally played a full game with some intensity and won! and yet people still wanna dump all over the game. I just don't get it. All I can figure is people would rather be right than watch the Bills win. And too many people have declared the Bills losers and Fitz blows. So, by all means, they have to find fault any way they can.

So you're arguement is based on Vegas lines? I take it you lost money betting on the Cards then. Sorry. But, yeah, the Bills tried to screw the game in the end. But, why do they not get any credit for being in the lead in the 4th quarter? guess what... they actually had to score throughout the game to be in that situation. Shocking. What about in the 3rd quarter after the Cards scored to go up 13-9; and the Bills answered with an 80 play TD drive to take the lead? What about Byrd's 2ints? I guess he was lucky. Funny, how its all about the Bills just being lucky and never actually doing something good to get a win.

I'm sorry, I thought this thread was about the Cardinals game? Weren't they 4-1 and on an 8 game win streak at home?

TBD rule number 2: Anyone the Bills beat is an inferior opponent; we were lucky; it hurts the team because we think we're better than we really are.

There's so much wrong with this post and line of thinking.. I'm not evern sure where to begin. But, I'll take a shot. So, if Fitz wins the next 2 games, we go into the Bye week lacking confidence. But, if Thigpen wins those games, we suddenly have all sorts of new found confidence. Because a career backup won 2 games, not our starter. Because Fitz winning is luck and anyone else winning is skill? So, if Fitz wins this week ... a big game, on the road.. there's no way he can win against NE or Houston on the road because those are somehow bigger games more on the road than this week's road game. So, no other team is gonna have flim on Thigpen and will not know how to prepare, i.e. advantage us. So, I guess teams can't view film from the 2 most previous weeks? Because apparently, the 2 games Thiggie played so well in and won, no one will be able to watch and prepare for him. Brilliant! We should just switch QBs every 2 weeks. What if Thigpen has an arm? What if he proves he's actually starting quality first? You do realize that the only way the Bills have success this year and in the next couple of years is if Fitz and the defense pull their collective heads out of their asses and start playing, right? Few.. few.. a small few QBs come to a team and make them an immediate winner. Denver just picked up Peyton Fricken Manning and what's their record? So, your plan is for Fitz to bomb and then we get a better QB than Peyton Fricken Manning to magically turn this team around. I swear this is exactly why I dislike fantasy football and Madden video games. Sure, it gets more people interested in football, but they don't have a clue what it takes to win. They totally forget that football players and coaches aren't interchangeable pieces that you can plug in and out of lineups and see instant results. Ding... lunch is done!

So you're saying the spirits travel ...with.. the team. Niiiiiice.

I think expectations being too high and the complete lack of patience are an albatross on this team in too many fan's eyes. We pretty much completely overhauled the defense. Brought in 2new DEs, new rookie CB, new DC with new scheme, and dumped veteran leaders - which is proving more damaging than I think anyone is considering. And everyone expects instant success. Granted... it would be nice to see at least some basic level of competence; even the most pessimistic of us didn't see record breaking futility. However, people forget that change of this magnitude does not often relate to immediate success. Rookies almost always take 2-3 yrs minimum to produce consistently. New FAs take time to adjust as well to their new surroundings. I expected a slow start. Again, this level of craptastic play is inexcusable, but you certainly don't trash it all after 5 games as quite a few are suggesting. A long way to say... I agree. Mario will almost certainly play better. If not for any other reason than it's almost inconceivable that he could play worse.

And that is exactly why the mood around this team is so horrendous. In the last 2 games, there has been absolutely nothing to base some hope on. Not even a good play. Will this defense gel a little? Will the players lose all confidence and suck it out. Quite honestly, I have no clue. But, after the last two weeks, its certainly hard to have any hope that they will improve.

How can the Dolphins be in complete rebuild mode, and still look better than the Bills? Its astounding how bad this Bills team can continue to look irregardless of what improvements they appear to make.

I really don't completely disagree with you, entirely. But, there's more than one way to build a winner. And I will contend that getting a monster WR when we have a mediocre QB isn't the way to do it. So, I'm glad they built the line up, first, given the proposed alternative.

I think people are frustrated with the team and defense, entirely justified, after the last 2 games. However, calling out 1 player for 1 comment made immediately in the aftermath of a brutal loss, especially when that player has been one of the bright spots on this team through the first 19 games of his career, is just misplacing that frustration. Dareus is going through a rough time due to the death of his brother. And, acknowledging that fact following with immediate dismissal of that fact along with the dismissal of all his previous efforts, is just disrespectful and neglectful of reality. And, yes, it is just a game. It's just a business. The fact that he makes millions means little. I wonder does everyone posting on this board during work hours take their job as serious as they expect some of these players. ..that is to put it above all else in their lives?

Facts totally get in the way of a good rant sometimes. I really hate that.

:-) I wouldn't blame anyone for giving up on this team. You're right, and I stand corrected on that portion of my post. But, taking a WR at #3 when you have no offensive or defensive line and a mediocre QB is still not the wa to build a team, IMO.

While I can agree with much of your opinion, this is complete nuts. First of all, prior to his brother getting killed, coinciding with the ENTIRE defense falling apart, Dareus has been an excellent and in some games dominating player. Now after 2 bad to below average games and you're ready to call him a bust? This kneejerk type reaction is also one of the things this organization needs to get over as well. Secondly, hindsight is a hell of a thing. No one was calling for AJ Green to be selected in the top 5, let alone be a Fitzgerald clone when he was drafted. Sure, he looks great now. But, to take that leap of faith, and that's exactly what it would have been, and make him the #3 overall pick would have been horrendously bold. Not to mention it almost certainly would have failed. Afterall, it's hard to catch the ball when your QB is throwing the ball 10yds over your head or 5yds short on a duck pattern. So, yes, this team needs a WR to help score points. But, to prioritize that position and reaching wildly to do so at a time when there was no team around him would have been continuing a longer Bills' pattern of getting flashy players that are destined to fail on a weak team. edit: I just recalled Green was picked first by the Bengals not Dalton, which my mind had reversed. So, some of my arguement is mistaken. However, I still contend that it would have been a huge leap of faith and poor decision for the Bills to draft him that high. Our team was, and is completely different than the Bengals. Most, notably, I believe their defense was pretty solid while we had a horrendous DLine at the time.

ya know... there's any number of other teams you can follow? why are you even still here?

The Bills need to match the intensity of the 49'ers D. If they come out soft and playing reseved, they'll get blown off the ball, punched in the mouht and the game will be over in the 1st quarter. Just come out mad, punch back and get some redemption.

Fit it up like fitty cent says. Holla.

The Bills haven't had the level of intensity displayed by either of tonight's teams in over a decade. Its fun watching defenses play like they did tonight, unfortunately that type of D just isn't played in Buffalo. We prefer a more passive aggressive defense that trys not to get too excited over any one game.

And yet, Gronk still had 100 yds worth of receptions. So they shift into a defense to stop the pass to Gronk and failed while failing to stop the running game. The entire defensive game plan was entirely one big fail. And they did nothing to change it once the Patriots stated rolling. Ptoblem is they played right into the Patriots hands as though they've never seen them play before. They played soft, they played passive, and they played afraid. They played the ole.. ya can't blitz Brady game cause he's too good. So lets flood the field with these cover guys and not give him any targets. Well guess what.. defenses having been getting burned by that approach for years and for the life of me I can't figure out why coaches don't see it. It was a piss poor game plan, that the Patriots ate up and spit out. And when it was obvious to the entire free world, rather than switch to a more agressive plan.. they folded their tents and quit playing. Jboyst hit it right on the head.

The problem is everyone forgets that few, very few, FAs come in and immediately make an impact on their team. Very few. Its the prime reason why teams that make tons of big FA off season moves never do well the following year, despite all the hype. Football is a team game. It takes the team to win, not just one guy. Period. Getting a new DC, 2 new DEs, a rookie CB, switching schemes, cutting other players... anyone with any knowledge of the game had to know that this year's success on the defensive side would be determined by how fast all those new pieces come together and by how healthy they stay. And anyone that thougt all the pieces would be gelled in week 1 was delusional. So far they've been reasonable healthy. Unfortunately, we're a quarter of the way in and they still have alot of congealing to do.

When the Pats* started scoring in the second half, I didn't make any adjustments to my cap or seating situation. I just stuck with my original plan to stay on the couch and keep the hat on forward. I'll have to learn from this game try to correct my mistakes. Tomorrow I'll forget all about it and move on. Its still a long season.

The defense yesterday was horrible! And, as I've said elsewhere, it amazes me that it seems so obvious to the everyone BUT the Bills' coaching staff. Teams, for years, have been saying you have to cover the receivers because NE is a passing team. So, they drop all these guys into coverage and Brady stands tall and eats them alive. It happens time and time again. The only teams that have ever had success against them are the ones willing to pressure Brady. Everyone sees it, but few do it. I have no idea why? There was so much wrong with the game plan yesterday (and the one against the Jets) from the formations to the attitude and intensity of the players that it makes a fan wonder... do the coaches have any clue at all how to play in this division? Its like every other team in the division uses previous game tape and steps up their level of play, while the Bills just treat it as though its any other game and completely forget all the past beat downs we've received. It's really quite sickening at times to be a fan of such a clueless and heartless team.