Typical TBD Guy

That is EXACTLY what I've been thinking for the past two weeks. We need to see what we've got with Peters and Preston, and guard may be a position better suited for Mr. Gandy. Anderson and Teague will not be on this roster next season.

The name begins with a D and ends with an onahoe .

There's a lot of blame to go around for this debacle, and Holcomb deserves some of that blame. If he didn't have the arm strength of an adolescent girl, maybe we could have challenged the 28th ranked pass D of the Raiders beyond...you know...10 yards or so?????

Five? By my count, it's eleven and running.

Playoff standings after Week 7, for those still interested: DL1. Colts: 7-0 DL2. Broncos: 5-2 DL3. Bengals: 5-2 DL4. Patriots: 3-3 WC1. Jaguars: 4-2 WC2. Chiefs: 4-2 7. Steelers: 4-2 8. Bills: 3-4 9. Chargers: 3-4 10. Ravens: 2-4 11. Raiders: 2-4 12. Dolphins: 2-4 13. Browns: 2-4 14. Titans: 2-5 15. Jets: 2-5 --- EDITED AFTER MNF GAME 16. Texans: 0-6 Week 8 Schedule w/ Who to Root For: Sunday, 1pm Games: Texans (H) over Browns Packers over Bengals (H) Rams (H) over Jags - important to Wild Card race Titans (H) over Raiders - important to Wild Card race (we now obviously have a tiebreaker issue w/ Raiders despite having 1 more win than them) Sunday, 4pm Games: Saints (H) over Dolphins - important to AFCE division title race Chargers (H) over Chiefs - important to Wild Card race Eagles over Broncos (H) SNF: Bills over Patriots (H) 2nd biggest game of the TD Era to date (behind last year's Pittsburgh season finale) MNF: Ravens over Steelers (H) - important to Wild Card race

Actually, I'm somewhat confident Alex Smith will be a success in this league...I'm just not sure what team he'll be one with... because it sure looks like the 49ers franchise can't compete anymore unless they're allowed to cheat the salary cap .

Dare I say, he's looking JP-esque? Or even worse... I only wonder how many more weeks the media will give him before they declare him a bust like they have with JP

Is this good news for Buffalo? Not really. If the NFL allows the Saints to move following the Katrina disaster, then we know nothing is sacred anymore to this league - nothing other than $$$, of course. Nevermind the fact that the Bills have been in Buffalo for 46 straight seasons, with great attendance throughout, and that this region played a critical part in creating the sport of pro football in the early 1900's....they wouldn't hesitate to relocate the franchise if it would mean a 1% increase in annual profit. The Dan Snyders and Jerry Jones of the league are ruining it, and I only hope someone stops them soon.

4-0 at home! I didn't see the game. How many fans were there tonight? A lot?

If he agrees to restructure, you will probably be right. But if not, then it's either Pro Bowl season or goodbye, Mr. Williams.

No sh--. But Clements CAN be re-signed. The money is there. It may mean cutting MW and Moulds, but so what? Clements is more valuable to this team than either of those 2, and would also be harder to replace elsewhere (draft or free agency).

And if Nate isn't replaced with another CB of similar caliber or with a premier pass rusher, you can say goodbye to our pass defense as well. Sorry guys, I like McGee a lot and think he is an outstanding #2 CB, but if you think he'll make us forget Clements as a #1, then you may be in for a rude awakening.

I don't know if we'll win or not, but I hate the notion of a team being "due" to win a game...especially if that team isn't any good. Shouldn't the Raiders have been "due" to beat SD in Oakland last Sunday??? They were 1-3 and coming off of a bye for that game. If we lose, it's because the Bills aren't any good and not because the Raiders are more pumped than ever before.

Last year's away game vs. the Raiders singlehandedly kept us out of the playoffs. And if you look at the remaining 8 games on our schedule, a loss to the Raiders this year could easily do the same.

You need to re-sign yourself from this issue.... .

Week 7 schedule, and who to root for: Sunday, 1pm: Lions over Browns (H) Texans (H) over Colts Chiefs over Dolphins (H) - AFC East game, though note that Chiefs are also ahead of us in W.C. race Bengals (H) over Steelers - Steelers are ahead of us in W.C. race Eagles (H) over Chargers Sunday, 4:15pm: Bills over Raiders (H) - Giants (H) over Broncos Bears (H) over Ravens Cards (H) over Titans MNF: Falcons (H) over Jets - AFC East game Now here is the rest of our schedule, by week: 7: @ Oakland 8: @ NE 10: KC 11: @ SD 12: Carolina 13: @ Miami 14: NE 15: Denver 16: @ Cincy 17: @ Jets I've divided the season into 3 main categories: the winnable away games (weeks 7, 13, 17), the difficult away games (weeks 8, 11, 16), and the home games (10, 12, 14, 15). The fate of our season rests largely on how we perform in our home games - all 4 winnable, yet all 4 against worthy opponents who each will be, at the very least, competing for the playoffs down to the final week. Historically speaking (since 1990 when the NFL first implemented the 12 team playoff system), only 3 teams have won 10 games and not made the playoffs (91 Eagles, 91 49ers, 03 Dolphins). Conversely, only 6 teams have won 8 games and still made the playoffs (90 Saints, 91 Jets, 99 Cowboys, 99 Lions, 04 Rams, 04 Vikings). And right in the middle at 9 wins, about 55% of the teams went on to make the playoffs. So my conclusion from all of this? To quote Mr. Fucillo, for this season especially the 12th Man becomes "HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE!" We MUST win all 4 home games along with the 3 easier away games (yes, I'm aware that no divisional road game is easy and also that we haven't won in Oakland since 1966 ) if we want to reach the magic number of 10 wins. Lose just 1 of those 7 winnable games, and we then need to "steal" 1 at NE, at SD, or at Cincy... Of course it's also true that 9-7 could win the AFC East this year, and 9-7 could very well secure a wild-card due to our much healthier AFC conference record. But I'd much rather finish 10-6 and not subject ourselves to the whims of the NFL playoff Gods. Agreed?

Short version: He disagrees with me on points A (PW), B (Schobel), and F (Gray). Longer version because of my own rebuttal: On point A, FFS thinks that our D last year was just as effective on the plays that PW took off as it was when he was playing. But to me, this is VERY debatable. Edwards usually substituted for PW on the passing downs last year, but even when Edwards ended up having to face run plays, the drop-off (based only on memory, though I’d like to see the stats to prove otherwise) was noticeable. On point B, FFS thinks that Schobel's poor run defense isn't the issue because of how we use him during zone blitzes... . Maybe I didn't understand FFS correctly, but Schobel does not drop back on most plays that end up as runs. He’s up front with the rest of the DL, and many times is getting manhandled enough to the point where it’s either a LB (sometimes Milloy) left to fill both gaps alongside Schobel or it’s an easy 10+ yds for the opposing RB. On point F, FFS thinks Gray has definitely proven his ability to make effective in-game adjustments over the past 2 years. He’s correct here, but only to a point; the “adjustments” in 2003 and 2004 were more like minor tweaks within the basic 46 D framework (i.e., which of the particular LB’s or DB’s to send blitzing and from what direction). In essence, Gray is a DC who is deeply married to one particular system and who may not be capable of doing much else if his system isn’t working under the current players carrying it out. So while the truly very good DC’s in the league can dramatically alter their strategies at times to fit the available players, Gray doesn’t seem to have that ability. I realize that losing Spikes and Pat Williams would hurt almost any good DC, but it shouldn’t hurt to the point that we are 30th against the run and 27th on 3rd downs ! Please note, however, that I am calling Gray out as an overrated DC but not as a “bad” one. I realize that there are many DC’s in this league who can’t even get good results when they have good players (prime example: whoever is running KC's D this season ).

That's fine, but I say Schobel is overrated because his sacks always tend to come in groups only against truly inferior competition. This year alone, he hasn't recorded a sack outside the Houston game. And Schobel has always been a turnstile in the run game since his rookie year. It's only when we signed Sam Adams, Posey, Spikes, and Milloy in 2003 that it became a non-issue. This year, though, I'm starting to notice again a lot of big runs coming off of his and Tim Anderson's side of the line. And regarding Gray, I still believe that the excellence of our D since 2003 has been largely a result of the talent we obtained and not because of any particular genius on Gray's part. Gray is a generally competent DC, but a mediocre one who can't adjust schemes like the big boys can, i.e. the teams in the NFL that routinely make the playoffs and beyond. So while we could always do a lot worse than Gray, I also think we wouldn't have to search very long to find a replacement whenever the time comes that JG decides to move on to new things.

The problems are, IMHO: A. The loss of Pat Williams, with Edwards and now Anderson not being good replacements. B. Schobel being an overrated football player who isn't and never will be good against the run. C. The loss of Takeo Spikes, which our D system relied (too) heavily on. D. Our LB's having a serious case of Arrington-itis this season by not sticking to their gap assignments....maybe Posey and Fletcher are trying to both live up to some ridiculous 85 Bears D standard and overcompensate for TKO's absence?? E. Milloy being an uncharacteristically bad tackler and also being out of position an unusual number of times...I can't explain this one...maybe age taking a toll? F. Jerry Gray's mediocrity and stubbornness as a DC; we need someone who has more of a Bellysick-like ability to alter an original game plan to fit new circumstances and situations....JG doesn't, and that is why I could care less if he leaves for a head coaching job (which will only be in the college ranks, at this pace).

You guys are going to like this! Standings as of Week 6, Sunday, 8pm, with playoff tiebreakers all in effect: DL1. Colts: 6-0 ----EDITED AFTER MNF GAME DL2. Broncos: 5-1 DL3. Bengals: 5-1 DL4. Bills: 3-3 WC1. Jaguars: 4-2 WC2. Chiefs: 3-2 7. Steelers: 3-2 8. Chargers: 3-3 9. Patriots: 3-3 10. Ravens: 2-3 11. Dolphins: 2-3 12. Browns: 2-3 13. Titans: 2-4 14. Jets: 2-4 15. Raiders: 1-4 16. Texans: 0-5 --- EDITED AFTER SNF GAME I’ll update again this week with a full list of Week 7's relevant games and a look ahead at the rest of our season schedule. If we win our next 2 games, we are for real.

It was a different (i.e. lighter) league back in the days of Fred Smerlas. Sub-300 pound DT's are rarely effective against the run in the current NFL.

Clumpy is more qualified to answer these questions, but I'm pretty sure that Moulds is the largest financial burden for the next 2 seasons (at least until Clements re-signs), and yes, MW is the highest paid starting RT in the league.

You'd rather have a top 10 pick than make the playoffs this year? Not me, man. Not me. There's no guarantee that a top 10 pick will ever pan out, but making the playoffs this year would show that TD has our team on the right track....which is INFINITELY more important to me than drafting about 15 picks earlier. Plus, as crappy as the Bills have played lately, it's awfully hard to give up this early.

No, Howard is not Ivy League. And Wire's school (Stanford) isn't either.

My definition of adequacy on the OL? Let me try it this way first, by quickly reviewing each player on the current roster: Mike Gandy - adequate as a backup T/G and no more Bennie Anderson - shouldn't be on the team next year in any capacity Trey Teague - adequate as a backup LT/C and no more (for the vet min. next season) Chris Villarial - adequate as a starting RG, when healthy Mike Williams - adequate as a starting RT...after a substantial pay cut Jason Peters - need to see a lot more, but has the talent to be a good starting LT as early as 2 years from now Duke Preston - need to see more, but could be a solid starting C as early as next year Justin Geisinger - way too early to tell, but could potentially be a decent replacement for CV in a couple years Greg Jerman - sucks; shouldn't be on the team next year Ben Sobieski (IR) - won't be in the NFL next year Lawrence Smith (IR) - shouldn't be on the team next year Dylan McFarland (PS) - may not have the size to make it in the NFL Marques Ogden (PS) - his pedigree is intriguing, but I know way too little of him and have never seen him play to say anything more Jasen Esposito (PS) - won't be in the NFL next year Based on this assessment, I'd now say that we are - at best - a starting-caliber LT and LG removed from having a line as early as next season that I would be proud to call "adequate." And so the natural question that follows is whether TD will be able to land a starting-caliber LT and LG this offseason, or whether he even thinks there are problems at these positions. There should certainly be a worthy supply of T's and G's in the first day of the 2006 draft, many of whom could start almost immediately and be relatively cost-effective as well (so he won't have to gut other positions on the team in the process of upgrading the OL). But looking at TD's drafting for the past 5 years as a Bills GM, he's only made 2 day 1 draft picks and 1 day 1 pick within the first 2 rounds on the OL; and NONE in the past 3 years. This is an alarming fact, considering that the OL wasn't in that great of shape in any of these past 3 seasons (in my opinion), and also considering that CV (in my opinion) was the only decent free agent signed to the OL in these 3 past years. In conclusion, I think the Gandy-Anderson-Teague line combination is "inadequate" for getting this offense and team to where we want to go - playoffs, at the very least. If you think this starting trio on the left side of the line is adequate, then we are worlds apart. And also in conclusion, I have about as much confidence in TD finding the necessary pieces to restore the OL to "adequacy" as I did in John Butler doing the same in the 90's. Maybe you think TD is doing an overall satisfactory job of building the OL, but in your posts you also tend to hand out bonus points for "trying" - which I don't. I judge by the end results on the field, and in my judgement the OL has never been good under TD's regime except for that mysterious 8-game stretch of the 2002 season.