jad1

I see a lot of guys making big plays in that list. They also play excellent defense in the red zone. But they are beatable. The Bills D will be the best they've faced this year. They've shown some weakness against the run. The opportunities are there. What I'm looking for in this game is Buffalo showing that they can take advantage of those opportunities and eliminate mistakes. Hopfully things will snap into place for them this week.

He's also a rookie who missed more than six weeks of practice. He's never faced an NFL blitz, two deep zone, or man to man coverage. He's never audibled in an NFL game, he's never checked down to a receiver, and he's never managed a two minute drill in an NFL game. JP is a the QB of the future for this team, but he's in for a long and painful learning curve. It's Mularkey's job to make sure that his learning curve in no way impacts any chance the Bills have for success this year. The primary example of this going wrong is the Ravens. Imagine if that team had a halfway servicable veteren QB over the last couple of years instead of Kyle Boller. With a Trent Dilfer-like QB they would be a Super Bowl favorite. Instead the team is forced to overcome mistakes caused by their inexperienced, unproven young QB who is learning on the job. Admittedly the threshold for bringing JP in is low right now. But if he does come in, it won't be to save THIS season, it will be to get him ready for next year.

TD is trying to build a power running team. Weiss has never been able to implement that type of offense in NE. Weis plays a spread the field passing game, something that matches up poorly with Buffalo's personnel. Crennel is a DC, and it looks like TD was interested in hiring an offensive guy, knowing that was the part of the team that needed the most help. I doubt you need to look any further than that in figuring out TDs coaching decision.

Since Losman is not going to be ready for a few weeks, this is needless speculation. If the Bills win the games that Losman is out, Bledsoe is the obvious choice to remain QB. If they lose those games, start getting JP ready. In any event, as soon as the Bills hit 8 or 9 loses, the JP "grooming" part of the season begins. I wouldn't start banging the drum until this thing plays out a little longer.

That's nice, but does anyone know what JP Losman is doing, I mean, at this very minute?

I want to see the Bills run the ball more than 40 times against the Pats. Who starts and what the breakdown of carries is makes no difference to me.

There's a difference between being a QB coach and an offensive cooridinator. Tiki's been having a good year for them, even though he hasn't attempted any passes on the goal line. And there have been no sightings of Ron Dayne lining up at WR.

I wouldn't count on Gruden being gone, they just hired his buddy Allen to be the GM, and he does have a SB trophy. Gruden has a couple of years left. Wannstandt is done like dinner, and will probably be part of an entire purge of the front office, if Huizenga has the nads to do it.

There was a time when pursuing good journalism and pursuing a profit weren't conflicting goals.

Maybe if the Bills pounded the ball 2 yards into the end zone instead of barely breaking the plane, the ref wouldn't need to make a decision. Maybe if the Bills could stop 3rd and 4th and long, the refs mistakes wouldn't matter. Maybe if the Bills didn't turn the ball over in the red zone and could protect the passer, bogus holding calls would be the difference between winning an losing. Maybe if the defense could turn the ball over on the road, the Bills fans wouldn't be crying about the refs. Bad calls DO happen and will continue to happen, because like players, coaches, GMs, and owners, referees DO make mistakes. Good teams overcome those mistakes. Bad teams use them as excuses. I would be really disappointed with the Bills if the coaching staff spends 5 minutes discussing this instead of focusing on the real problems this team has. It's time for these young guys to grow up. This style of gutless football needs to end now.

Those were some horrible calls, especially the safety call where the refs seemed to make up a new rule in their conference in the endzone. But doesn't it seem like the Bills have been the object of misfortune too many times over the last couple of years? Kind of like a geek who keeps taking a beating from the school bully, but won't fight back? Point is, it's time for this team to nut up. I don't remember Jim Kelly's Bills getting beat by bad calls or by "miracle" plays. If that team got a bad break, they had the mentality to overcome it and still win the game. It's time for this team to grow the hell up. We all blame Bledsoe (justifiably), but it's also time for Henry and Moulds to start making big plays. Jennings and Williams need to start imposing their will on defenses. Spikes, Clemments, and Fletcher need to turn the ball over on the road. Schoebel needs to get sacks when the game's on the line. And the coaches need to stop their timid playcalling. Teams that stand around waiting for the next guy to make a play are succeptable to bad calls and big plays against. It's time for the Bills "stars" to stop standing around, and start making plays.

What does "Brady and Pennington were 2nd year players on paper only" mean? Both guys spent a year learning the teams offense and what life in the NFL was like. Since Brady was a 6th pick and Pennington played at a small school, there's little doubt that it contributed to their sucess. And what makes you think that the Bills supporting cast is any better than Manning's, which included Marshall Faulk and Marvin Harrison? The point is that putting JP in is only going to help JP, it's not going to turn the Bills into a winning team. No doubt JP's the future, and he might be a spark, but if we're depending on him, and only him, to turn this thing around, it's not going to happen (this year). So if the team believes the season is lost by the time JP heals, I have no problem putting him in. But if the team is going to turn THIS season around, the coaches are going to have to work around the QB position. They're going to have to accelerate McGahee's and Evans' development, take more chances on D, and pray that the OLine has some kind of epiphany.

In Drew's defense on that play, Moulds wasn't wide open the entire time. He needed to clear the CB on the play, (the CB was passing Moulds off to the safety, but the safety jumped inside) so Bledsoe had to wait a second or two.

Uh, dude, you answered your own question there. Anyone who can make the AFC Championship game with Stewart as his QB qualifies as an offensive genius, end of argument.

Jim Kelly had a couple of years in the USFL to prepare him for the NFL, and the Bills were still 4-12 his rookie NFL season. Brady didn't play his rookie year (actually, he threw 3 passes), he played his second year. Manning was 3-13 his rookie year. Pennington didn't start his rookie year. He wasn't name starter until his 3rd year and even then was an early season replacement for Testeverde. Holding a QB back a year is not a myth, it's a fact. JP does offer a different dimension than Bledsoe, but the reality is that the QB position is not going to pull Buffalo out of its offensive funk this season. To salvage this thing, the coaching staff is going to have to rely even more on the running game. Henry and McGahee will need to be used to pummel a defense. Right now, that's Buffalo's only real hope to make any progress this year.

I watched the ending of the Bears game. I thought Ruben looked pretty good and then flag, "holding, number 74 offense..." Same ol' Ruben.

The funny thing about this article is about how the general consensus was that Bledsoe couldn't play in a short passing game. He didn't have the accuracy or patience for it. But to 'salvage' Bledsoe's career, Mularkey is forcing him to run an offense he has no skill in running? How does that make any sense? What's more on the mark is that Buffalo's Oline can't protect the pocket yet. They have two quality RBs. Their speediest WR is a rookie, playing in his first game. If Lenny had half a clue about this, he'd realize that the entire offense needs to run this type of offense right now. As the season goes on, and the Oline gets the reps together and gels, and Henry and McGahee gain a rep, and Evans gains experience, there'll be more opportunities for the offense.

Ahhh, no.

I don't know, the last time Drew faced the Raiders, he threw for 413 yards and 2 TDs.

It's more like the Bills have a 7 and two 3s. No doubt the DEs are young and have the potential to get better, but right now, they are a weakness on the defense. The good news is that the Bills have very good blitzing LBs, and to generate a strong rush, Gray has to blitz. That's just where this team is right now.

Yeah, who cares if he's reading on a 2nd grade level in 4th grade. Just tell him to nut up, and look at the bright side, repeating the 3rd grade next year probably means that he'll be the tallest kid in his class! My parents pushed me pretty hard when I was in elementary school, but they always knew what was going on in the classroom. It seems to me that you can make sure your kid is working hard, while at the same time making sure he's not being verbally abused by a teacher. The biggest problems in education occur when parents aren't involved with their kids' school life.

Parcells gave up Steven Jackson to make that trade. Jackson was the leading rusher in preseason and had 50 yards backing up Faulk yesterday. You think Cowboy fans are all screaming "Great trade Bill, we're looking forward to that pick NEXT YEAR?" Hell no. The Cowboys needed a difference maker at RB and Parcells decided to pack away draft picks instead of grabbing Jackson. If the Cowboys continue to rely on 41 year old Vinny to throw for 300 yards to stay in games, the Dallas fans are going to ROAST Parcells for this trade. As people on the board like to say, it's a win NOW league.

How am I not what? The Bills did a nice job of stopping a good running team yesterday. And AZ will struggle with us.

Baltimore has shown absolutely nothing this year, and if Ogden is out an extended period of time or Lewis is tied up in court, they could go 4-12. Their defense was beaten by the Cleveland(?!?) offense? Yeah, they're a powerhouse. New England gave up a ton of yards against Indy and needs to prove they can stop the run. Until they do, I like the Henry/McGahee matchup against them. Do you think that Curtis Martin is going to gain 200 yards every week? How will the Jets look when they play a defense that can stop the run? Shut down Rich Gannon and the the Raiders are done. The Bills secondary is better than Pittsburgh's. And if Staley could gain yards against the Raiders D, then Henry and McGahee will do fine. Every team has questions right now. Every team has its weaknesses. Throwing in the towel after one week is a bit extreme, to say the least.

What did you want Mularkey to whine about? What reason did he have to scream in the refs face? He did a great job in winning his only challenge, other than that, the Bills really didn't have much to complain about from the refs. Look at the time of possession, the number of 3rd downs converted, and the number of rushes. This team was coached well, and if they continue to follow this plan, the wins will come.