Dawgg

It's wrong. The Bills are out.

I'm not saying the Bills organization "wanted" him to leave. I am simply saying they drove him to the point where he wanted to leave. In Carolina, the Panthers were NOT a strong club when they signed Stephen Davis to a free agent contract and drafted Deshaun Foster in the first round. In fact, they were pretty bad at the time. What John Fox and Hurney (their GM) did was sell the idea to both players. They made it clear that both players were in their long-term plans and put their money where their mouth was... fast forward to 2006, the team picks D'Angelo Williams in the first round despite having a capable back in Foster. New Orleans drafted Reggie Bush in the first round despite having McCallister. New England drafted Maroney in the first with every intention in the world to keep Dillon. All 3 of those franchises had to sell the idea to both RBs and all parties involved bought in. The Bills didn't even try with Travis. Once Willis started doing well, they pretty much treated Travis like he was used goods. I think the Bills mgmt did this because they were confident Willis was a top-5 running back. If they knew he'd go on to become as inconsistent as he is today, my money says they keep Travis.

That's partially because the franchise essentially gave up on Travis Henry. London Fletcher said it himself. I feel they drove him to that. It's up to the organization to sell that to a player and the Bills (rather Bills coaches and management) failed miserably. - Henry was under contract at a very cheap price. - Henry was a very productive back - Willis was coming off a major injury and while good, had not shown the level of consistency needed to win in the NFL. All signs pointed to keeping Travis Henry. You look at a team like Carolina -- they had Stephen Davis and Deshaun Foster operating in the same backfield.. they were both fine with it, in large part because the organization knew they BOTH were important and treated them as such. The same is happening now, with Foster and D'Angelo Williams (last year's first round pick). Dito for New England with Maroney and Dillon. I really feel this team (and Willis) would have been better by keeping the two of them.

Right on, brother. I will be a douche the other 364 days of the year. Merry Xmas

When Travis was in BUF, Bill felt that he was so bad, he'd be out of the league in a year.

Travis had a good game. Willis had an OK game. In any case, that's semantics. If you couldn't notice the stark difference between the two, then you're pretty closed minded. Yesterday was a perfect opportunity to see what we are missing after Bills fans (like you) were quick to run him out of town.

... and no mention of Travis Henry. Do you still think Willis is a "far" better back?

Just watch. I guarantee.

Those that "do" get this game would never dream of comparing Willis McGahee to Ladanian Tomlinson. Willis is a decent back who is plagued by inconsistency. LT gets first downs when needed for his team. So does Travis (we saw it in BUF and we are seeing it in TEN). Willis has the skills, that's for sure, but the consistency is simply not there.

Not gonna happen.

Spikes needs a full offseason of conditioning under his belt. He essentially had no training camp or preseason and was further set back by a hamstring injury in Week 1. I say give him another year. He also generates a lot of buzz for the Bills and actually brings people to the stadium, believe it or not... that has to count for something for this franchise...

Lindell was kicking in the opposite direction during pregame warmups.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writ...ek17/index.html

I don't think they are. Nor does TMQ: Sour Play of the Week No. 2: Dallas leading 7-0, Atlanta had second-and-10 at the Cowboys' 49 on the first snap of the second quarter. Michael Vick sprinted backwards all the way to his own 38 before heave-hoeing a crazy pass that was intercepted and returned for a touchdown by DeMarcus Ware. TMQ has asked this three times and will ask it a fourth: Why do Atlanta coaches have Vick running backward so much? The Falcons are sinking slowly into the sunset, and nearly all their calamity plays this season have come with Vick racing backward. Vick is the NFL's best running-quarterback threat since Randall Cunningham. When Vick executes conventional sprint-outs, he is devastating. On the conventional sprint-out, Vick is close to the line and can take off running; if the defense comes up to honor the run, then Vick throws. When Atlanta coaches tell Vick to race straight backward -- he often appears to be executing an eight-step or even nine-step drop -- Vick retreats away from the line and surrenders his running threat, while having to throw off his back foot falling backward, which is a recipe for fiasco. Now it's Dallas 31, Atlanta 28 with nine minutes remaining, the Falcons facing third-and-3 in a game in which they rushed for an average of 4.7 yards per carry. Did Atlanta power-run? Did Vick sprint out? Atlanta coaches called a shotgun formation. Vick raced backward, then threw incomplete; as the punt boomed, TMQ wrote the words "game over" in his notebook. Why do Atlanta coaches have Michael Vick running backward so much?

Playoffs = Add'l Playoff Checks + Greater National Exposure + More Tail

You mean receivers to DROP his passes.... Falcons receivers lead the league in drops. But that has nothing to do with Vick's effectiveness.

Agreed. And the WCO is "not" the offense for Vick.

Can we close this thread?

you one of the chefs?

I really don't think drafting a CB high is such a bad thing, especially considering the marketplace for them these days. The bottom line is that top corners are very expensive in today's market. Winfield's contract was borderline insanity. The Skins are paying through the roof for Springs and the Vikes doled out an equally insane contract for Fred Smoot -- all solid cover corners, but nowhere near the "great" category. With that being said, it might make sense to draft a corner with a high pick if he is deemed a worthy pick. The free agent market has been very good to teams willing to spend on defensive linemen and linebackers and they come at much more reasonable prices. For example, the Bills were able to retool their entire linebacking corps via free agency witih Fletch, Posey and Spikes and went from having one of the worst LB corps to one of the best. Fletch and Spikes both probably got a combined $15-18M in signing bonuses and we're talking about guys who are in the PRIME of their career. Nate Clements will command close to $20M by himself!

Thanks! I'll see you folks there this weekend!

And one has been to the Pro Bowl: Travis

I came by for the Jax game looking for yall but nobody was there... so I just played flip cup with some random drunkards in the parking lot.

Don't bring facts into this, please.

Henry wasn't starting after the trade so that is a bogus comparison. He had to share carries with Chris Brown. How about an apples to apples comparison, THIS year? Travis and Willis have virtually the SAME number of carries (224 vs 226). As indicted by these numbers, your assertion that Willis is a far superior back aren't accurate IMO. Sure I too like the 3rd round pick we got for him -- just pointing out that your bias against Travis was unfounded, that's all. Yards Rushing: Willis: 872 Travis: 974 Yards per Carry: Willis: 3.9 Travis: 4.3 Yards Receiving: Willis: 136 Travis: 75 Touchdowns: Willis: 5 Travis 7