AKC

Bledsoe's hardly my measure, but I do understand why Patsy fans want to measure Brady against him- it's one case where they can definitely put Little Lord Fauntleroy in the lead. Against Elway I don't see any argument, JE was a QB who transcended systems with a great touch in the short game, great field vision, a great deep arm and a dangerous ability as a runner. Elway was destined to be a champ in any system; if Brady were playing in Arizona right now I doubt he'd even be their #2.

Stats for QBs have improved dramatically as the reliance on the short game has become necessary due to improved athleticism across trhe LOS. And it's tiem the league recognized the farce of the "Passer rating" system that shows guys like Joe Namath down among the Brian Sipes of the league. I didn't actually address the issue of Denver Ds directly but needless to say if you look at their competition in that time there were more balanced teams at the top, and hence their competition were better overall teams. Today we see less balanced teams competing in the playoffs for the most part.

I realize you don't really understand the game very well, but the answer is that the defenses fielded in NE were not nearly as good. Here's your formula- Good D=Good Team/ Bad D=Bad Team. The QB doesn't have an equal effect. Oh yeah, the Pat's D- it's becoming the latter. Enjoy the tumble!

No threat of hurting anything there! Unless the wall is important to you?

I don't know how else you can make a "Best Player" argument without considering their ability in other settings. Can oyou argue Barry Sanders as the best RB without considering how his style might have affected a good football team? "Best Player" arguments cross all eras and teams and styles. It's only fair to consider how someone's strengths and weaknesses would have worked in other settings AFAIC, otherwise there's no basis for making the statement of "Best Of" to begin with.

It's called RAC. It's an element of West Coast passing games that holds consistently true. That's why pure West Coast teams like the Seahawks have virtually the same 7.9 YPA reception as the Pats.

Just take Elway for example. He opened up with some struggles due to his reliance on his feet (sound familiar?) but once he settled down into the pocket he became a complete QB who won it all in a big-ball play-action offense that Brady simply couldn't have survived in. On the other hand, had you given Elway the D in NE, the kicker and even used the hinky dink offense, Elway would have turned in 3 or 4 TD Super Bowl wins, probably 4 times. Unitas the same, Manning has the full toolbox, Kelly and Favre possibilities although they are/were both on the wrong side of the risk taking equation. So I'd say at least 3 of those you mention would have had BETTER results with the NE team than Mudslide has.

The blind when it comes to Brady are the idiots who think his talents are portable to most NFL offenses historically. They're simply not. He's on par with other good field vision guys like Drew Brees, but if you give Bree's the Pat's teams over the past 4 season the outcome would be the same, and possibly even with at least ONE convincing championship win instead of a trio of little field goal whimperers.

And yet, as a fan of the game you recognize that: Given a top NFL defense that keeps your team in every game, even a QB like Brad Johnson or Trent Dilfer can find a system that fits them. It shouldn't be any surpise to anyone that now that the defense is declining in NE so are the Pats. It's certainly no suprise to me.

What's your obsession with Bledsoe? I see Mudslide Brady is once again proving what a farce the QB Rating system is- He's 6-23 on his passes over 20 yards and once again among the worst in the NFL in throwing over 20 but the fact that the system in New England has more behind the line of scrimmage passes than any in the history of the game, his rating overall is a bloated 92! He's half a QB, a guy who can play if you don't need to throw effectively downfield. There's nothing wrong with that, in fact he's proven that if you can find a hinky little passing system, the best kicker in the history of football and one of the best contemporay defensive strategists to run everything, even a hink and dink QB who can't get to the red zone can eke out 3 point wins off the golden toe that bails him out again and again and again and again!

I appreciate you acknowledging who the BEST player is on the Pats. I'd ask you to consider where they would have been over this span with Jake Arians kicking field goals for them. I can tell you this, no one would be talking about the QB who couldn't get them to the end zone!

He's bailed them out of every tough situation over the course of the past 5 seasons, hitting clutch big kicks when their offense stalled over and over in big games. If you want to confirm the MVP of the Pats watch the end of any of their big game retros during the recent past and you'll notice the MVP getting carried off the field by his teammates- and in virtually every case that player is Viniatieri.

It's hardly an argument- the best player on the Pats, and the one most responsible for all the 3-point wins in critical games, is of course the guy who kicks those 3-point scores.

One of Denney's sacks was set up by an awesome inside spin by Schobel where he draws a second blocker and he punches through the double to force VTestaverde up into Denney. It was as nice a defensive play as any made all day by the Bills.

Sammy is not a run stopper- he's a DT with a great first two steps and that's far more valuable in pass rushing. He would be complemented by a solid big body like the one we let go, a stay-at-home DT like PWilliams. At this time Tim Anderson, who has pretty good technique but isn't yet big/strong enough to hold down the fort, looks like he's about a year away from being a good option. Problme we have right now is he's our only option. AFA Sam being our D MVP, I'd agree that if he were not playing in our D we'd already be packing up the season. Nice to see Ricky coming right in with a clear head for you guys ;-)

No worries- We're facing the second worst rushing offense in the league next weekend. Feature back Lamont Jordan is averaging 3.6 YPC, almost a yard shy of Willis. Then again, the same could have been said last week about the Jets, who moved 4 or 5 spots up the rushing offense ladder by facing us-

There's a play in the first half that I thought showed exactly why JP had not become an effective "steward" of our offense yet- it was a 6 man blitz that was impossible for Holcomb not to see, the extra bodies were at the line well before the snap. Holcomb trusted the blocking scheme and threw downfield for a good gain- it may have been a slant to EMoulds- and the blocking was good enough to make the Jets pay for the weak coverage. This is exactly the type of play that JP spent the preseason and his regular season starts bailing out of. It's understandable that he wants to rely on his good feet, but the cost to the team is too high- we can't afford to miss those opportunities when our blockers do their job and give the QB the time to let the play develop. What we've seen from JP so far has been a reliance on his wheels that is not the stuff of which NFL Championships are made. Clearly the coaching staff carries some of the blame for the problem since they heavily promoted him using his legs for the whole time he's been with us until they realized it was seriously hurting his development. The bad news for them is they now have to correct it, and JP shows some resistance to the discipline areas for a QB, areas like getting your feet down and sliding or trusting the pocket and running through his progressions. The great news is that so far Losman's maturity, plus the fact that he had a similar situation happen to him at Tulane with Patrick Ramsey, has kept the goal of the team game in focus. And the film that Sam Wyche can sit JP through of Holcomb trusting the pocket is the greatest example of what the team needs JP to do- the questions that are left though are: A) Will he be able to absorb those lessons and play from the pocket? and; B) When is the right time to see if he's picking up A)? They're very difficult questions, but ones that are almost sure to go unanswered as long as we're in first place in our division. As much as this coaching staff would like to get JP back on the field, I don't think there's anything JP can do to make that happen- the starting QB for the Buffalo Bills right now will be decided exclusively on the play of Kelly Holcomb and not the potential of JP Losman.

Sunday the Bills will play the Raiders with the D Cup going to the victors- it's time the Cup is returned to responsible adult chaperones. The weekend's activities begin Saturday with the Bills Raiders Golf Tournament and will conclude with the game on Sunday afternoon. There's plenty of draft Labatt's Blue, Buffalo Wings and WNY football weather. If you're located in SoCal or Central Cal and you're interested in participating along with other TSW posters, PM me and I'll give you additional info.

Leave a seat open for me on the Gandy bandwagon- he's been a far superior run blocker to the previous tenant at the position and he works so hard on passing downs that he in a lot of ways makes up for his lack of good pass protection wheels. I suppose we'll have to continue ignoring all the talk about replacing a guy working as hard as Gandy is since the OLine is getting the blame that should be falling on the coaching staff and front office for using their talent poorly and failing to address the void at blocking TE in the offseason, a position that can be easily and economically filled in FA. If you're going to play two TE sets for your run game you need AT LEAST two decent blocking TEs- we have one in our whole system.

For the first few weeks of the season I allowed the incessant "Peters would make a great ____" posts to get under my skin, but now that his status is being elevated to Savior I am finally seeing the amusement in it all. The only surprise is that he hasn't yet been suggested as a replacement for Tony Masiello, but then again I may have missed the string ;-)

Mayock had been the lone bright spot on that program. Eisen is unwatchable, Lincoln Kennedy is way too Burl Ives and Woodson shows no sign of the effort he put in on the field- in fact I'd call him soft. At the same time, I'd love to see TD interviewed by the guy they "cut", Seth Joyner: "So Tom, why the bull sh-- naming your starting QB, the kid just isn't ready to play right now is he?" "Signing Jason Jefferson or even Weezy herself won't change the drop in run defense from 7th to 29th league-wide. Do you have any credible long term solution?"

I trust you'll take good care of CPirrone. We don't want him getting in any trouble at home ;-)

I see on his bio that he's now a State Assembly Rep, having served 12 years on the City Council. His website lists his "greatest accomplishments", 3 out of 7 relating to jamming the Coliseum Property up the NFL's butt.

He's a monster run blocker but not an effective pass blocking OG. I can't imagine why they'd want to move him unless it's related to protecting Brees on passing downs.

It's too bad because Carson had great dynamics- freeway access, surrounding neighborhood friendly to the concept and plenty of space to pull it off without transplanting anyone. It also had a great concept stadium (The Hacienda) drafted up by and being pushed by Mike Ovitz. The bed news was the property was formerly a commercial landfill and the toxic cleanup required would have extened the build-out time by about 6-8 more years than at other sites. Add this to the garbage politics of LA and Mark Ridley Thomas once again forces the Coliseum on a League that recognizes what a huge mistake it is to rest their LA hopes on that site. I hope the league stays out versus handing this hack a short-term victory.