AKC

I'm the last one to stick up for the poor talent we've got at DT, but there is one dynamic here that might work in our favor. As good as LT is, and IMO he's the most complete back in the game, his game is not the physical one that's been killing us Sundays like LJohnson or Carnell Williams- he's a guy who is more likely anyway to reach the second level because of his elusiveness. With LT it's a little more your LBs against him instead of your DTs, and in that we should fare a little better. Doesn't mean he won't carry the Charger's O, I just have some optimistic feelings about our ability to keep him from going off the charts.

Smelling blood during film sessions all week long'll sometimes do that for a DE. In a game where we managed only 9 first downs ourselves while allowing 22, the problems we caused KC when they foolishly abandoned their 5 yards a carry running attack shows the vulnerability of a passing first offense. There are simply no circumstances under which KC should have left that field without a W yesterday, yet their coaches refusal to trust his running game in favor of a frantic passing offense being pressured regularly allowed us to win it all. There's 20 coaches in the NFL who would have won that game on the KC sidelines- but Dick Vermiel is not among them.

I thought the linebacker who shot the backfield was in the airspace for a shovel pass to Willis and caused KH to freeze up instead of having the ball batted and ending up God knows where. To be fair to the play call, and as you point out what our staff saw leading up to the game on 4th down plays from the Chiefs, with 9 or 10 defenders commintted to stopping the 1 yard run there is tremendous opportunity for a huge play simply getting the ball in play downfield. I don'thave this play in my top 5 of idiotic play calls this season, we've had far too many slow-developing backfield plays when we're just getting a defense back on its heels to consider this among the worst.

Yeah, but I'll bet your dad wasn't drafted by a MLB team to play shortstop and consequently released for refusing to get a hair cut ;-)

4 tackles, 2 sacks- I don't have a stat source for pressures but I have to say I've never seen Green look that uncomfortable. KC might want to forfeit the balance of their games until Roaf heals up or they'll be looking for a new QB. Unless, of course, they intend to start Todd Collins in '06.

The point of the orginal post is crediting his off-field maturity, something there is a basis for applauding him on at this point. The only reference to his on-field performance was the hope that it would become as applaudable. I will say this- it appeared to me Sunday he has gotten the message to stay in the pocket and let his WR's routes develop, which clearly seems the primary message they wanted to make when he was "seated".

TSW Alumni will make a strong showing here- not to mention that we'll outdrink the rest of the attendees ;-) Two Bills Drive Tijuana Excursion

I won't discount the media labeling of him, but the guys he played ball with at Venice High refer to him as Jonathan.

To be fair to Gandy he was shown a zone blitz fake and he's been taught to look to help inside when his man drops. If the one way one of the league's premier sack artists finds to get through Gandy is to use a fake that Gandy will NEVER bite at again in his career, I think the property that is Mike Gandy continues to be impressive and continues to argue towards our management focusing on the personnel spots where we're weak, not where we're playing well and doing it on the cheap.

After recent off-field episodes involving quarterbacks splitting our team to promote their own careers it is inspirational to see a player in our jersey who was mature enough to accept the decisions of his coaches and wait for his inevitable return. This kid is all about his team, he loves the City of Buffalo and hopes to be part of its ongoing rebirth. There's no evidence of the sniping some players take at the region or the weather. Instead we're blessed with someone who is considering investment in the area and tying himelf to the team and city for the long term. Let's hope his field level talents develop the same way his maturity has- if they do we might once again find ourselves expecting the shoulders of our QB to carry much weight on those autumn and winter Sundays we all cherish so much.

I'm with ya'. Embarass them with 220 yards rushing, prefereably right over T Bruschi.

Just watched some of the Raider/Chiefs game from last week. The Celebrity factor is high with Michael McDonald running the Raider D and Burgess Meredith coaching the Chiefs DLine, but the Chiefs fill-in for Willie Roaf is clearly underpowered and underskilled. I'll lose an awful lot of faith in Aaron Schobel if he doesn't raise Jordan Black's sacks allowed this year from 5 to 7.

The date of this might give you an idea of the white-knuckling that's been going on in my Bill's world- PreSeason Post

Very good point- one thing that should be obvious even to the most hard-headed of Bill's fans is that the QB is simply another piece of the puzzle and the idea that the QB is the most important postion on the team is simply foolish and proiven wrong game after game. The further our young guys get the better for them and us.

As Vince Lombardi pointed out, "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing". There's a reason the trophy isn't named after Hank Bullough. Another very wise and successful coach shared this with us: "Winning is the best experience".

I assume we'll try to get Gandy some help on that side on any 5 or 7 step passes. Considering the futility of our RBs blocking skills in the pass game Mark Campbell might spend a lot of time to his side on Sunday.

It's unsettling to have your nightmare play out before your very eyes with absolutely nothing that you can do about it.

I took another look at it- it looks clean unless he's got a handful of jersey and my resolution isn't good enough to tell.

Much to the delight of Larry Johnson, you'll see Sunday that we could have used a guy like Pat Williams too ;-)

Sam had a very active first quarter, short as that was for our D. Funny thing is by the Pat's thrid series he showed signs of fatigue and you're right, the package with Kelsay/Schobel/Denney and Anderson was used starting in the 2nd quarter. There was even a 3-4 play in the 1st quarter with the Pat's buried deep on their own side of the field where we used Sam, Aaron and Chris.

You might want to wind that one back- what I see on that play is actually great technique for a Tackle- McGinnest jumps the snap and gets a great start but Peters rides him upfield and out of the play, just the way it’s taught to OTs at every level. I’ve spent as much time over his stint with us watching Teague as any Bill since he’s been put in a lot of difficult situations, and I’d say your response regarding the breakdowns to his left side and the injuries to an effort player on his right have been by far the biggest cause of the low-lights for Trey. The great thing about football is that this week we get to see whether I’m correct on TT and co.- I don’t expect MWilliams to be a liability to Trey and Villarial appears healthy again- I’d think we should look good running AND passing Sunday unless the Chiefs find a way to exploit Peter’s inexperience. He’ll face Hicks who is almost a hybrid of Warren and McGinnest, the two guys he dealt with well in NE. Hick’s is no stronger than Warren and he’s not as quick as McGinnest. That suggests to me Peters should have another good outing. The wild card might be Jared Allen on the other side, a tough assignment for any LT. Gandy walks away with a good game Sunday it'll be time for the team to print some of his jerseys up for resale. Everything I’ve seen from Mike Gandy suggests to me he’ll be a starting lineman in the NFL again next season for someone. If we keep building towards the power running team our geography rewards I won’t be disappointed at all to see him topping our depth chart at LT next season. His lack of great lateral footwork will allow some very quick guys to beat him on occasion, but I’ve seen the best at the position give up occasional plays. Gandy’s cost/value ratio is the best of any player on our OLine, it’s crazy AFAIC to focus there as long as that ratio holds. As mentioned above - he gets a very tough test in pass protection against Jared Allen this week, the kind of player who should reasonably be salivating at a SUnday across from MGandy. (Since you're fond of puzzles) I figure if I can coax you into a few more posts in the string we’ll set the all-time SSALOP record. ;-)

We'll find out Sunday whether MW looks like a fit at G, and it would be tough to project Peters out as a starter after one game against predominantly the very one-dimensional Ty Warren, a guy a little stiff to be playing DE in even in the 3-4. The great thing is that Peters has had a full 2 weeks to consider those reps he had against Willie McGinnest, a pass rusher who has mode a lot of OLinemen look bad. Peters seemed to win the day on a lot of plays with sheer athleticism versus good fundamental technique, and that won't hold up every week. It' s great that he's an athlete, but he'll face some embarrasment sometime probably sooner rather than later as he's getting his footwork together- don't be surprised if it's by some 220 pound safety or uber-quick LB who beats him badly for a big play/plays. Overall though, giving Gandy and Teague a player to work with should make the left side far better in pass pro and it's hard to imagine the run game not benefitting over that side also. IMO Sunday's going to tell us an awfu lot about our offseason strategy for the 2006 season- one way or the other.

I really was eyeing the big boys and only went back to the receiving crew on a few plays where they were involved in something obviously good or bad. I only spotted Evans on two plays and he got his target set and hit it. Campbell's awful play was in pass pro. I'd say that he is much better on the move because of his very good range and ability to get his target lined up, what ails him in the passing game may be having his feet set up and that long body being unable to get low enough to get under his guy's pads. I have more of the 2nd half to watch, I'll keep an eye out; the sore thumb just always red flags Neufeld and my standard for MC on passing downs may be diminished as a result :-P Let me amend that on one point- I have noticed that the offense does a lot of plays with him where he has a chuck before his route, and there was a real good one for 8 or 9 yards in the NE game. He has a number of designed release or chuck blocks from the way I see it, this would not look good in single frame.

I fall on the other side of it- I'd say this could be a very good football team from the personnel side if this off-season we add: 1) A top run stuffing DT, the kind that is available nearly every year in Free Agency on the cheap since they don't have the sack stats to attract the big bucks. 2) A quality #2 blocking TE- the kind available virtually every off-season in Free Agency on the cheap since they don't have the big reception numbers to attract the big bucks. That would presumably give us a 3TE rotation with a downfield trheat, a reliable receiver and the bodies to REALLY stack up well in the RZ. 3) An answer at LOG or a depth pickup in the first half of the draft if Preston finds himself in the starting lineup before this season ends. 4) A one gap DT in the draft within our first 3 picks. 5) A FB in the draft or FA if Goldsbery isn't showing on the PS that he's making a serious run at knocking Damien Shelton off our roster in 2006. 6) Another gem CB in the middle of the draft with starting potential. 7) A legitimate B/U for Lawyer Milloy. Wasting picks on QBs simply because we don't have the other pieces in place is foolish. Trent Dilfer, Brad Johnson, Tom Brady and Kurt Warner have won the recent Super Bowls; the talent level at QB on our roster isn't what's handicapping this offense.

I agree- one pass KH has proven to place well is the slant, I'm not sure how you throw that to the left if MW is standing in your passing lane! I'd guess Big Mike, if he's over the foot isses, improves our pass blocking a lot and our run blocking to a lesser degree. As you note, the quesiton will be what does he take away from us by being far too tall in the conventional wisdom of the game?