AKC

McGahee's college performances versus his pro performances will contemporarily and even inevitably be considered with his recovery as a bellwether, but I'm not so sure it's going to end up being an accurate way to look at those abilities. I don't watch much college ball anymore, but it's still clear when watching the college game just how common it is for a college back's skills to be a poor fit in the NFL. Willis is bigger now than he ever was in college. He looks to me as if he might just possess as innate a skill at understanding his blocker's field of opportunity and effectiveness as Thurman. He shows very good to excellent strength off a single set of hands, a dynamic that must not be overlooked in assessing his skill sets at this point in time. I have to believe his physical maturity and weight training over the course of his injury rehab have made him more dangerous in the step up to the NFL, a league that accedes the occasional play to speed but more often than that rewards the ability to bust off that first set of hands. Would he have been able to take his 225 pound college frame and done the same things he's doing in the big leagues at 237? The good news is it appears it's a study we'll have front row seats for.

I'm convinced those of you fanning the rumor of a Bill's move to Salt Lake City will end up disappointed.

We need to head right over to the Falcons board to explain to their fan base why Michael Vick is such an obvious recipe for disaster based upon this statistical analysis. There may still be time to save their season by getting Matt Schaub the balance of the team's snaps in '04.

OK, I'll bite. I don't have film for the frist itme this year because the little lady was in the hospital yada yada yada. On the one game view I was able to make Bledsoe sucked, the first throw to the middle fo nowhere was followed by even worse offerings. I thought early on the opportunities to move the ball on the ground (and especaily on the right side) were not well addressed by our linemen but I'll concede the point with no backup to review. Your call is that Bledsoe was unable to adjust personally to the scheme Belichick came to play, which was to overcrowd the line and bring it on nearly every play to confuse his former QB (and hide his deficiencies in the D backfield), and it worked perfectly. I have to ask you in your opinion how many times this season, previous to this game, was an opposing coach able to beat us by simply unvieling a strategy to befuddle our QB and having that strategy play out the way it was designed?

You wouldn't be talking about the same Joe Dufek that had a QB rating of 52.9 while playing for the Bills? The same Vince Ferragamo who posted a 50.8 passer rating while in a Bill's uni? And you can't possibly be talking about the same Rob Johnson who was too recently cut from our roster, are you? If you are let me share with you the wisdom of converting all your property and investments into Krugerands! And they're fun to polish too!

That's pronounced "Thank you sir, may I have another- Please".

A message board community can be enhanced with a mix of posters that even includes those who choose a controntational personality. It only becomes pathetic when one of those who chooses such a personality is unable to "take" in the same manner in which he "gives". As for your comprehension level, high school might be a bit of a jump. I'd think you'd find it a bit embarassing to note that among all the posters in the string you're the ONLY one confused about the subject in the title. TTU later, it's gotta' be time for your nap!

Still trying to differentiate between "Push" and "Pull" I see! Carry on! You may see the ,"ahem", light when you go back to the original post, a post you alone seem to be struggling to grasp. I'll be sure to dummy the next one down so that there's less of likelihood for you to be forced to embrace the conical cap once again!

I figured Gruden, with Back to Back disappointments and his inability to get his "offensive genius" to work in his third year on the Bucs staff would rate pretty high. To some degree the results so far suggest that that who you watch/have watched is that who you believe is failing at the highest level.

The Corleone reference is yours. But I'll play. How's this: You can lead a horse to water, but somebody always seems to end up with their head stuck up its ass. (Having one's head in there might also explain a considerable difficulty with reading comprehension)! The fact is that Brady is a poor Red Zone QB who is bailed out by the best kicker in the NFL during the regular season, the post season and especially during big games. I have led you to the facts; you need look no further than the New England game recaps to see that Brady chokes more often than most NFL QBs once he crosses the 20 yard line. Ignore it, deny it, but its a fact supported by his play every week and the resultant stats. This week is a perfect example: 6 Red Zone trips, a running back in Corey Dillon having a field day against us, and only 2 TDs to show for it. It's why Brady remains among the worst in the league in points per red zone play- his red zone trips are most likely to end up as Vinatieri scores. Bottom line- Brady is very, very good between the 20s and he consequently gets himself a lot of Red Zone opportunities. That's the premium on his playing ability, between the 20s. It does not change the fact that he's a proven underachiver once he hits the red zone.

I noticed passes reaching the defenders much, much faster ;-) What I saw that I really, really didn't like was Losman running and diving forward. It would be bad enough in a game in reach, it's purely stupid in a game that's over. His bad habits in pre-season are incredibly disappointing to see popping right back up, especially considering his injury. I don't expect him to come in and play well right away, but it would sure be nice to see him come in and play with some intelligence.

Betwen these coaches there are 7 Super Bowl wins and a proverbial mountain of media glorification including "genius" tags. There is also one rookie. Which one is stinking up the joint the worst among them?

I'd hope the moment his Passer Rating drops below the 16.7 it's at right now!

I hate to use Theisman as a reference but even that jackass pointed out the difference in pocket time "enjoyed" by the QBs, about 4 seconds for Brady and not even 3 for us.

During the Pat's second Offensive series we got good pressure on Brady up the middle on two consecutive plays, one resulting in a sack. Brady then lost nearly all ability to play football by throwing 4 of his next 5 passes into terra x and the first row of seats in Gilette. Luckily for the Pats Weiss adjusted well enough to control that same pressure for the balance of the game and Brady finally got his act back enough to string together another of his standard "Mr. Field Goal" games, with great production between the 20s but poor execution in the Red Zone. On the one hand was an exhibit of what pressure does in spurts; over on the Bill's Offense was a different example, the effect of a QB pressing due to constant pressure and stinking up the joint all night as a result. If a bit of humor can be garnered from the game it has to be the fan reaction to having Bill Belichick play our new staff for the second time in 6 weeks, this time on his own turf. It's hard to imagine any observant fan being surprised that Mularkey and Co. got worked by the best technical coach in the NFL today. But there they are, falling out of their chairs over an L to Bill Belichick. I have to say disappointment is one thing, but hysteria is another thing altogether. It's time for a little reality check for Bill's fans: Last year's NFC Champion Panthers, the team that New England needed Adam Vinatieri to put away in the Super Bowl, are 2-7 The Super Bowl winners (and runners-up) from the previous season are 3-6 Joe Gibbs, Bill Parcells and Jeff Fisher are all heading up 3-6 football teams. While the game of football is getting less predictable, Bill Belichick manages to give his team a strategical edge- especially against teams he sees more frequently. For Christ's sake, give the guy some props instead of trashing your own staff and roster; the guy is the top coach in football right now and we play in his division. Look at what he's done for the reputation of Brady, a QB who is in the bottom of the league in Red Zone production- some fans actually believe Brady is the best QB in football, and that takes some real magic from the head coach to mask the fact that all he truly does well is move the ball between the 20s. As far as the Bills are concerned, we have been improving our play through the course of the season and the Sunday night hiccup shouldn't change that at all. I expect this team is going to finish well, and that's regardless of who is playing at the QB position for us. We've beaten a good team and I see no reason why we won't do it with more frequency. Mularkey just got his certified indoctrination into the AFC East this past Sunday night, if he's our coach of the future our team will take a bigger step forward in the learning curve from it than any other game we've played under his tutelage.

By the time you get assigning percentages to individual offensive linemen, WRs and the overall D a figure of between 25 and 30% assigned to Bledsoe's awful performance seems logically supportable but it might be tight. The OLine play was so poor in the running game that they might just need 50% of the blame before pointing fingers anywhere else.

Michael Moore has found that it's far easier to sell an awful product to the least intelligent 48% of our population by convincing them that they're actually on the other end of the intelligence curve. It's a great business model and he should be lauded for his excelling in the American system and becoming filthy rich, even if it has been on the backs of those foolish enough to believe his tripe! What a Country!

Hate apparently is defined by the left as "thoughtful consideration of all aspects and ramifications of a strategy, not simply the spontaneous emotional conclusion". It might help them to recover from their continued slide into the chasm of insignificance if they study the rise of Talk Radio, a forum whereby persons who are uncomfortable allowing a 10 second sound bite or a political talking point to define their fundamental position on the broad subjects facing this amazing Democracy. While I would expect the left will find a small victory in gaining House seats in the mid-term elections, the long term reality for the Dems is that they will continue to decline overall as long as they insist on appealing to the shallowest of us with the EXACT SAME ANSWER for everything: Question: How should we deal with insert any major political issue? Dem Answer: We'll increase spending on insert same issue by taxing the rich! Memo to the Democratic Party: Your approach is wrong, your answer is stale, please stop insulting the intelligence of ALL Americans with your pathetic lack of creativity. OR, learn to accept your continued humiliation by a the opposition. It's a shame if you settle for #2 since our two-party Democracy thrives on both partys being forced back to the middle when they lose touch with the majority of the populace.

This Roll Call appears to support the assertion that Squids and Flyboys are among the Early Adopters Class ;-)

I was serving on a Nuke when we visited Western Australia in '79 so we had to port below Perth in Freemantle. While the Aussie men took some time to appreciate, there was no such trouble with the incredibly "welcoming" ladies.

If they feel right out of the chute that Gorin needs help then you've got the extra help on the side instead of the middle where Belichick likes it with his noodle-arm Offense. We've gotten some pretty good penetration from our DT rotation as of late, the biggest single threat to a West Coast attack and a fragile QB like Brady. If in fact the NE blocking assists in this game (from TE and RBs) are looking for heat from the edge let's hope Tim Krumrie's crew brings their A game Sunday and we see a lot of PW, Sam Adams and the ever improving Ron Edwards playing King of The Hump on Brady's little body in the offensive backfield.

Don't take anything away from Lechler who is an AWESOME punter regardless of conditions.

USN '77-81.

Yeah, what the heck would some stupid football player know about the game of football anyhow- better to check with the fans and the media to get the real low down!

There's no doubt Clements/McNally like some skills in space from their linemen and Smith just doesn't have the feet to do it, although as a pure pass blocker in the middle he performed far better than what we were used to starting the season at LG. Teague is so good on the move that it shouldn't be any surprise that they want to keep him in the middle where he can quickly get outside blocks to either side for Willis (the thing he was doing so well prior to getting dinged up). While the quality of our line players is being upgraded in most fan's minds right now, I'm more inclined to credit the staff with teaching a whole new system to a decent talent base, finally finding the right pegs for the appropriate holes, and as important as either of those factors accepting that the very deliberative running style of Willis McGahee makes our run blocking appear to be much more effective (when in fact it's no different than the blocking they provide for Travis). The promise in all this is that we've suffered through recent seasons when the coaching staff didn't seem able to think on their feet during the season to make the types of adjustments Mularkey and staff have begun to undertake. Now I just need to convince them to let someone other than Nate return punts ;-)