Typical TBD Guy

Yup, that's EXACTLY my point. We need to play to our offensive strengths - a good running game and a big-armed QB. Enough of this West Coast-eque passing stevestojan. This team is incapable of playing precision football like the previous Super Bowl winners of the last 4 years.

Unfortunately this board is unwilling to have any debate anymore over Bledsoe's ability to lead the Bills to the promised land. If you disagree with Drew's play AT ALL, then you are automatically labeled a "crusader." Yes, Drew had a technically sound game yesterday and made no major mistakes like he routinely did last year. Yes, the blame for the offensive woes against the Jags was partly due to a superior Jags run D and to Mularkey's conservative play calling and to Moulds' fumbles, etc... However, we have $5 mill+ invested in our starting QB this season, and for that amount of dough I'd like to see the starting QB be asked to do a little bit more than hand off the ball 60% of the time and make only a couple pass attempts per game greater than 20 yards. 10 points of total offense off of 2 defensive turnovers is not going to win us a lot of games. Shane Matthews can easily do all that we asked of Drew yesterday, and Matthews costs us only the veteran minimum. If Sunday's game was a sign of all that we expect from Drew this season, maybe we should have flat out released him in the offseason and used that extra cash to get some real interior linemen. That's all some of the anti-Bledsoe people are saying. Drew is a Bill and I still support him all the way. In the weeks to come, though, I hope we can debate his worth to the team without being torn a new one in the process. Foxboro Mike, as long as you're willing to accept positive criticism of Drew, then I see no reason for you to not continue posting on this forum.

You're exactly right. This offense is going to be a season-long work in progress. Unfortunately, we will be out of the playoff race by the time our OL finally "gets it." It's always next year for us Bills fans...

We discovered that our Bills defense can be almost invincible when they bring a consistent, though varied and unpredictable, blitz. The only bad drive of the game was the final one where we played too conservative with a 3-4 man rush. So in the future, and especially against the younger QB's of the NFL, Gray's unit will do fine if they continue to aggressively send more LB's and DB's from all different directions to the backfield. Our offense was a little too conservative and only netted 10 points - all of them off defensive turnovers that drastically shortened the field. However, I like how Mularkey stuck to running the ball, even off of the #2 NFL overall run defense. We ran the ball for just under 60% of the total offensive plays. The problem lies in how we spent the other 40% of the plays. I believe that we really need to stretch the field more when we do decide to pass. Bledsoe's strength is his cannon of an arm. Sunday's game showed us that Drew is also capable of improving his short-passing game and releasing the ball quickly; however, his bread and butter will continue to be the deep ball and this is why we pay him the big bucks (otherwise, why not just cut Drew, use that money elsewhere, and start Shane Matthews to run the same game plan we had against the Jags?). If we do a better job of mixing in a more vertical/downfield attack for the 40% pass plays, then I think the 10 offensive points shoots up to the mid-twenties on average - clearly enough points to win a lot of games with this year's defense. So in conclusion, the 2004 Bills are all about AGGRESSION and not CONSERVATISM. Mularkey needs to take from Sunday's game what worked - lots of blitzing - and change what didn't - not enough deep passes. If he does this, and manages to keep the team and key veterans upbeat at the same time, we should stand a good fighting chance at finishing the season 10-5 (the standard minimum to make the playoffs and to declare the 2004 season a success). A full day after that heart-wrenching loss, and I'm already starting to feel a little more optimistic about our chances this Sunday in Oakland and beyond. Now somebody please pinch me, or at least remove me from these Ricky herbs...

A lot of people down in the DC area are talking about how great Greggo is going to be for them. One man's trash is another's treasure, I suppose.

Milloy is certainly not a top 5 SS. Earlier in his career, yes. But not now. Spikes is definitely a top 5 OLB playmaker. Same with Moorman as a top 5 P. This is an interesting argument. I don't agree that you necessarily NEED to have top 5 playmakers at one or more positions in order to be a really good team. But I do think that you need a solid return on the contractual investments you have for each player. On defense, I think only Milloy is overrated for his contract (but barely). On offense, however, we have Mike Williams, Trey Teague, Drew Bledsoe, and yes - even Eric Moulds - as guys whose production doesn't match their salary cap numbers. On top of these 4, we are paying Losman, Evans, and McGahee substantial money to ride the bench. PLEASE do not interpret this as meaning I think all those guys I listed suck. I just think that we are paying them too much for their production levels. That's all. And this poor production return on our offensive investments adds up. It's the reason why we seem to have all these great players but still too many losses. The 2004 Bills suck not because we don't have enough - if any - top 5 playmakers, but rather because those 8 guys I called out are earning various percentages of their contracts that should instead go to shore up the interior of our offensive line.

There we go! Christie is still available, right? His leg is probably a little weaker, but no one knows the RWS winds better than he.

I kicked in my fan and lost a small part of my toenail as a result. That was about it for today. Last year I broke a whole heap of stevestojan! 2 keyboards, a lamp, one of my computer speakers, headphones, and a textbook that I threw across the room. Kevin Gilbride still owes me $125. The bulk of it came from one game - that Sunday night KC one. Lindell should near that range by mid-October.

I really hope this will be the last post in this thread. I titled it in a controversial way just to get some attention to my point that we TBD'ers should expect more from Drew this season than simply mistake-free football. We actually need to score POINTS - like more than 10 - to do well this year. That was all I really meant to say. Yes, overall, Drew had a good game and other players around him failed. However, in future games I would like to see Drew do more than just try not to get sacked or fumble or throw interceptions. The QB is also responsible for moving the ball down the field! A huge part of the problem was Mularkey's game plan, yes, but I hope Drew will show the coaches and the fans that he can still be his explosive old self at times despite the greater emphasis on our running game. BuffaloBob and disco, take note on how other posters repond to people's threads. Fake Fat Sunny did the best job trashing my post, yet he didn't have to use overt mocking and ridicule to get his point across.

The problem is that an ultra conservative Bledsoe isn't good enough. We need our QB to do a little more than just hand off the ball and throw short, quick passes all game. The rest of our offense isn't talented enough to sustain long, mistake-free drives. Our defense is solid, but not outstanding like recent Super Bowl defenses. At times we will need to play more aggressive on offense. We will need Bledsoe to do what he used to do best. Can he still do it? I don't know, but this new conservative Bledsoe - as the Jags came showed - may not be good enough.

There might be a few of those really old veteran kickers floating around, looking for a paycheck. I'll take any weak-legged geezer at this point. I don't care about the 45yd+ field goals anymore. Let's just consistently make the easy ones.

Actually, yes. That's precisely my point. Your obvious sarcastic points aside, I believe that a team takes on the personality of their team captains...normally the head coach, the QB, and several other of the most talented and most experienced players on the team. Don't believe this "psychological theory?" Fair enough. But many guys who played for HOF coaches and HOF QB's have attested to this psychological factor. I've conceded that the conservative play today of Bledsoe that I'm complaining about probably has more to do with Mularkey and Co. than Bledsoe himself, but there must also be a reason why MM and Co called a conservative game plan, no? Because they have ZERO faith in Bledsoe playing to win. So far, I wonder if the coaches have completely bought into Bledsoe's turnaround. I don't think they are comfortable in letting Drew take control of a game. They probably are thinking that he will inevitably screw up if they let him try to play to win/score lots of points/aggressively attack the opposing defensive secondary. Unfortunately, without a truly dominant Bills defense a la the Ravens and Bucs a couple years back, the Bills offense is going to have to be more aggressive downfield for SOME situations in a game and in a season. The Jags have a weak secondary, for example, and we did little to test them deep. Anyway, just please let this thread die now. It was a bad idea for me to have started it. Besides, we can all agree that Lindell was probably the real reason for us losing...

All valid points, and I agree that many aspects of today's game made it difficult to distinguish who was more to blame for the inept offense - Mularkey and the O coaches, Moulds, Reed (where WAS he?), the offensive line, or Bledsoe. However, aside from the details of this individual game, I think what I'm really trying to get at is that - deep down and perhaps subconsciously - this offense and team in general has little faith in their QB (based on his play in the past year and a half), and it is showing through their less than inspired play at various critical points of games. The rest of the team feels like they have to play perfect or else they will lose. Thus, you see this offense coming apart at the strings when bad things happen and you see this defense folding at the end of the game when their already herculean efforts for 59.75 minutes are never enough to secure a simple victory. Playoff-caliber QB's can manufacture this missing confidence out of nowhere. If a QB is easily susceptible to losing confidence in himself - like Drew admitted last year - how is the rest of the team supposed to react to this? Drew is a nice guy, but pretty soon we are going to figure out that it's time we get someone in there who will always believe in himself no matter the circumstances. Unwaveringly cocky SOB's like Kelly, Favre, and perhaps Losman don't always make the best friends, the best spouses, the best all-around human beings, etc... but they make for some DAMN good QB's.

Wire is a great special teamer, a decent emergency SS back-up, and an overall good person, but he will never be a future starting safety. Out there in no-man's land i.e. the secondary, it takes more than a good vertical leap and hard-hitting tackles to survive. You've got to have the speed to move in open space, as well as the recognition skills to move with purpose in this open space. Reese, aside from breaking that miserable interception-less streak for Bills safeties, blows and will be working at your neighborhood burger joint when his contract runs out this February. Hell, even I (Mark Kelso) could do a better job right now than either of these two duds.

Sorry folks, but someone here has to raise the bar for our starting QB and supposed team leader. Bledsoe only turned the ball over once, he was only sacked once, he generally got rid of the ball quicker, and he generally did a better job of scanning the field for his receivers. Congratulations, Drew. Now look at the score board. Only 10 points. Only 1 touchdown. Few sustained drives of any considerable length. Countless 3rd down opportunities wasted. Several opportunities, in particular, wasted toward the end of the game to burn time off the clock and keep our tired D off the field. I don't mean to go off on yet another TBD anti-Drew crusade; I just want to point out that lately here we have really lowered our standards for this QB in question. If we truly want the playoffs this season, then we should demand more from Drew. Super Bowl caliber teams have QB's who rise to the occasion - especially in the final quarter and in the final drive - to WIN a game rather than NOT LOSE IT. Based on last year, a lot of posters here seem to believe that the first week of the season has zero relevance. I disagree. I think today's game will prove to set the tone for the rest of this season - a lot of low-scoring, close games that more often than not end up as losses because our team has taken on the personality of Drew Bledsoe, a man of great character and dedication who nevertheless doesn't have "IT" - that special something people here have called "heart" but which I think of more as "confidence." Maybe JP Losman has it, but Drew doesn't. Prove me wrong, Drew...

Neither did Mike Holmgren when Lindell played for him in Seattle. Can you imagine how much worse Lindell is going to be in RWS during November and December? Unless any of you think our Bills will be capable of blowing teams out late in the season, kiss our chances for a playoff run goodbye. Oh and FYI, Lindell's contract places him between #11 and #15 in highest paid NFL kickers. Not exactly a profitable return on an investment, eh Tommy boy?

Oh yeah, they're this bad! Now the team I'm worried about are the Jets, aside from the New England Pansiots of course. Aside from their weak secondary, the Jets should be a force to be reckoned with...

I couldn't even get through the whole thing. Made me too angry. I stopped at the people jumping out from the building windows. Jarhead Jim, USMCBillsFan, NavyBillsFan, VABills, Pete, all other TBD'ers serving who I forgot: a big giant motherf'ing thank you for sacrificing your lives to continue a 230 year tradition and keep America safe. I have the utmost respect for the armed forces (although I'm still angry with the Marines and Navy that they denied my medical waiver...) As for the terrorists and the "99% minority" of Arab Muslims who condone their actions... :I starred in Brokeback Mountain: ...I didn't forget the Palestinians dancing in the streets on 9/11/01. I never will. They should NEVER be forgiven for that.

...

Dude tonight I WISH I could get the butterfaces. I almost went home with a buttereverything. Girl not only had the face of an NFL lineman but the body of one too. Hooking up with her tonight would have been like hooking up with Mike Pucillo. Hell hooking up with Pussywillow himself would have been better than this chick. Ah well good thing I made it home from the bars safely. Can't wait for tomorrow. Go Bills!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Prod the friggin bear??? Lou Saban bailing on us twice, 0 for the 70's vs. Miami, Walt Patulski, Kelly dissing our franchise, Ronnie Harmon's drop, 4 straight Super Bowl losses, OJ Simpson murdering his wife, Bruce Smith getting the flu, the annual threats of the Bills moving to LA, Home Run Throwup, Frutie Fanatics, Johnson and Johnson (Lonnie and Rob), Kevin Killdrive, 2 Patriots SB victories in 3 years, dealing with the Axis of Idiocy (Foxboro Mike, Thurman's Helmet, Hollywood Donahoe), Mike Pussywillow, etc... We've already paid for a lifetime of bear-prodding. Now it's OUR turn, baby! If the offensive line holds up, then all the pieces are in place for a Super Bowl run! Take this, bear! :I starred in Brokeback Mountain:

So I guess Dolphins fans truly are "fair weather" fans? Get it? Fair weather? Hurricane?

Enough already with the orgasms over the Pats D! They are soft against the run.

Maybe Manning should take a paycut so the team can get some defensive help...just a thought.

If you win the turnover battle, you will beat the Pats. End of story.