Brandon

That's a big part of it. But its not really the fault of the DBs. The problem is the fact that the Bills don't have a pass rush and must blitz to pressure the QB. If they pick up the blitz, there's usually going to be someone open.

Happens every year. As the season winds down and it becomes clear which players won't be back, the fans try to convince themselves that the player the team is going to lose really wasn't that good anyway. Nate Clements probably won't resign with the Bills, so that's reason enough for many fans to convince themselves that he sucks. For my part, I think he's one of the best CBs in the league.

I give it a C-. Its bad, but it could be worse. A LOT worse. 2000 was an 'F' draft. There are no top tier starters from this draft, but at least these guys have made some contribution. The real problem is that its not worth making a major effort to keep any of these guys once their contracts are up.

Its not the biggest need, but it IS a need. Kevin Everett represents some potential at the position, but as it stands, the Bills do not have a quality starting TE. With the team ranked among the league's bottom feeders in both scoring and passing yardage, I don't think I could complain much at all if the Bills were to add a top TE prospect to the team.

As always, keep the RFAs. All four are pretty good ST players and Crowell is proving he can be a solid starting player as well. If I were GM, I'd consider locking Crowell up for 3 or 4 years right now. If he'll sign for about what McGee did, I'd keep Nate Clements. Otherwise, as others have suggested, use the franchise tag and try to trade him. I think they can get a first round pick for a 25 year old CB who, with his faults, has proven far more in the NFL than any rookie. Ryan Denney has proven himself to be a solid backup DE and if he'll sign for near the veteran minimum, I'd keep him. Much more than that, and he's expendable. Ron Edwards is a decent player who cannot stay healthy. Kevin Thomas is a decent 3rd CB coming off major injury. If they'll sign for the minimum, bring them back, otherwise don't. The rest aren't worth signing. One guy you left off the list: Josh Reed. Reed is also a FA after the season. I would not resign him, either.

What do you honestly expect? As others have said, McNally has nothing to work with. Quite predictably, his OL stinks, primarily due to the fact that the team has invested in other teams' castoffs rather than quality FAs and draft picks. He's a good football coach, but he is not a miracle worker.

He looked about as good as can be expected for a QB in his 5th start who had to run for his life the entire game. This is one of those games where you just hope a young QB doesn't throw 3-4 INTs, and to his credit, he didn't.

What should he do? His front four isn't going to generate a pass rush against most teams. If he doesn't blitz, the opposing QB will pick his D apart. He's really in a no-win situation. Blame Donahoe for not bringing in an elite pass rusher on the DL.

Agreed, and interestingly, I think that may have been JPs problem all along. The Bills were trying to turn him into something he's not: a dink-and-dunk passer. Today, he stopped over-thinking, started reacting and played football the way he seemed most comfortable, as a gunslinger, and was successful at it.

Everyone loved that call last year when it worked...

Agreed, and that's what bothered me about Moulds' statements earlier this season. He hadn't really played that well the two seasons prior to this one. Six TDs in two years isn't enough for a guy costing as much against the cap as he is. As you say, Eric Moulds needs to worry about his own play, rather than someone else's. I also didn't think he gave much of an effort for JP in that Saints game, in particular. Saw it today, too, when he short-armed that one pass where he got the big hit. You're going to get hit anyway...CATCH the ball.

Works for me.

He gets my vote. Start him the rest of the year and hopefully he'll prove worthy of starting for the next 10 years.

Ummm...is 51 healthy?

Who replaces Crowell at his current spot?

And a totally different situation. Losman's play still gave us a chance for 3 points and a 14 point lead. Holcomb's was a game-ending play.

The problem is that too many expect a 2nd year QB to be perfect. He's going to make a lot of mistakes before he becomes a good starting QB in the NFL. The question is whether or not the Bills and the fans will allow him the season or two he needs to play through them. We'll be rewarded with a great offense if we do, but I question the patience of the fans and team, unfortunately.

Looks exactly the same to me, except that he's gotten his accuracy under control.

A great deep pass is one that is caught. You can't expect in stride perfect passes every time on deep routes.

Yep.

While I don't think Trent Green is going to have a 300 yard game or anything, I do expect him to be effective today against the Bills D. Tony Gonzales is my big concern in the passing game, especially if Johnson is running well. If that happens, the LBs will be biting on play action and Gonzales is probably going to catch a lot of 8-10 yard dumpoffs for first downs. The Bills D has its work cut out for it today.

The Chiefs and Bills defenses are mirror images of each other. Ours can't stop the run, theirs can't stop the pass. Given the weather today, this looks to be a game centered around running games and run D, so I think Johnson has the advantage and will have a huge day in terms of yardage. As I stated earlier, if the Bills can keep him out of the end zone, they can minimize the damage, but I think he's going to get his yards today.

We have a TE on the roster?

Mularkey is putting more pressure on him by doing this, not less. Losman now has to be thinking that he has to make something happen on the one or two series that he's going to get. He'll probably force passes that he normally wouldn't and make mistakes that he normally wouldn't. If he plays the whole game, at least he knows that he can play within his own abilities because he'll have plenty of opportunities as the game goes along. On the flip side, it also puts more pressure on Holcomb as well. He knows that this is the beginning of the end of his time as starter unless he starts lighting up the scoreboard. He's got to be thinking that he needs to make some plays to keep Losman on the bench. Look for him to also be taking some chances he normally wouldn't today.

I think it all comes down to whether or not the Bills can minimize the damage done by the Chiefs running game. While I fully expect Larry Johnson to get 25 carries for about 125 yards, if they can tighten up near the end zone and force the Chiefs to settle for FGs instead of TDs, they might have a chance. I also expect Tony Gonzales to have a big day off play action passes because of that running game, but again, if we can keep him out of the end zone, too, we may have a chance.