Mikie2times

My bet for this week is a two team Parlay, I like the Bills and Chargers on the money line, 8/1 odds for that bet. I usually stay away from the Bills games but I really think its a coin flip this weekend in Baltimore, I also like the very underrated Chargers against the injury depleted Panthers.

As much as this team has dooped me in the past I think we will go into the Jets game at 3-4.

Hence the reason not to continue arguing, in the long run we are all Bills fans and thats all that really matters to me.

I don't think anybody deserves the onslaught your receiving right now but at the same time I'm sure you can understand some of the posts. I'm done now so good luck to your Cards in the rest of the NLCS.

Look at your signature line BF, that line is possibly one of the most ignorant comments about sports I have heard all year. You pulled this same act during the Eastern Finals last year, I expect certain rash statements from a disappointed fan but you do it with so much consistency it's amazing. You make your teams out to be dynasty's when they have accomplished nothing, you then alienate opposing fans by saying their teams are not even in the same class. Maybe I'm wrong, but if I was I wonder why so many other posters say the exact same thing.

This is turning into a very similar situation as the Pistons Pacers series last year. BF starts out by declaring his team (Pacers/Cardinals) head and shoulders better then its opponent (Pistons/all of the MLB). It's so bad to the point were BF will not even acknowledge that the other team has a chance at winning. As the series goes on and his team is not doing as well as he hoped his view changes. This new approach is saying the other team may have a chance but only because (Pacers/Cardinals) are not playing well. After his team gets beat in the series he will acknowledge your team the victor, following that he will go onto say that his team is still the better one but they lost because of officiating/injuries/poor play. The cycle was funny enough when he did it with the Pistons and Pacers last season, now that he is doing the exact same thing it's even better.

Great game.......looking forward to game 5

I agree but I don't think it would have been overturned. It was one of those classic reply situations were they would have said their was not "indisputable evidence" to prove he scored. Being the battle of the winless teams CBS only had about 2 cameras at the game and neither of them had that good of a angle.

Over the last few years it seems like every time this team begins to turn the corner they fail. It has been a agonizing stretch for us fans, whenever the excitement gets restored it inevitably gets riped away a short time later. After 7 consecutive losses today really felt fantastic and with the coming schedule it has left me with some cautious optimism. I wanted the playoffs this year but after the 0-4 start I realize those expectations are no longer realistic. My new goal is to remain competitive and at least mathematically alive for the wild card down the stretch. I don't think this is a unreasonable expectation for the fans, nor a unreasonable goal for this team. We have 2 very winnable games coming up starting with the Jamal Lewis-less Ravens next week. Then we come back home for a two game stretch against the Cardinals and Jets. Despite the 4 game melt down we had to start the season we can turn this around. The opportunity is sitting right in front of this teams face just as it has so many times over the last couple seasons. In the past we failed in these situations, if MM and crew want to prove that this team is different then now is the time to do so.

I appreciate all the kind words. Just a quick response to some posts. -Bill I agree that those three areas you discussed are among the more catastrophic mistakes under the TD regime. - FFS I have always enjoyed your posts and certainly can't argue with the points you made in your response. I probably placed to much emphasis on the draft forming continuity, I'm sure the coaching carousel had a equally large impact. I also agree that RB departure did leave this line without leadership, I think many believed McNally could just instil that quality but its much more difficult then that. -Clements I hear ya about the draft pick situation for next year, I just wish people would give JP a chance before we label that trade a failure.

Agreed, my intention was to be impartial, the more I worked on it the more frustrated I got reveiwing the recent drafts, as a result the poor Eddie Robinsons of the world got the rath.

Ya I know it is long, I just did a little bit each day this week. I guess I'm just sick of watching this team lose the same way all the time, I feel like this helped me understand a lot of why this team is the way it is.

I have been a pretty big TD supporter for the last couple of years, however in light our record during his tenure I began to wonder if I I should be as supportive as I have in the past. So what I have put together over the last week is a review of the decisions made by TD threw out his tenure. A lot of people on here are beginning to question the direction this team is heading under TD, and I figure if your going to form an opinion about his ability to be the Bills GM you must have all the information at your disposal. The information is fact, the summary's are just my opinions, in the end I hope this post will be as informative to everybody here as it was for me creating it. Also you may notice some information missing, I included only players/coaches who have made a impact on this organization during his tenure, obviously we have had a lot more transactions then those listed, however I felt it would be a tad redundant to include absolutely every transaction that has been made. 2001 Coaching/Management Decisions Named Gregg Williams HC Named Mike Shepard OC Named Jerry Gray DC Named Tom Modrak Director of Football Operations Summary: Obviously Gregg Williams tenure as the Bills Head coach was not a very successful one, I'm not going to get into that hiring anymore because people already know enough about it. I view TD's decision to let Gregg Williams have free reign to hire his staff as a mistake no matter how well organized he was. You can debate whether or not the hiring of Gray and Modrak have been successful, is Gray's current defense a product of talent or good coaching? Or is it both? As for Modrak he seemed like a excellent hire at the time, was thought of as the great talent eye that built the Eagle teams of today, however as we are aware of already our drafts have not been very solid the last few years. 2001 Draft 1. Nate Clements CB Starter 2a. Aaron Schobel DE Starter 2b. Travis Henry RB Starter 3a. Ron Edwards DT Back up 3b.^ Jonas Jennings OT Starter 4. Brandon Spoon LB No longer on team 5. Marques Sullivan OT No longer on team 6a. Tony Driver S No longer on team 6b.^ Dan O'Leary TE No longer on team 6c.^ Jimmy Williams No longer on team 7a. Reggie Germany No longer on team 7b.^ Tyrone Robertson No longer on team Summary: The best draft of the TD era, however it's still one that is far from being excellent. Out of 12 picks only 5 remain with the team, the good news is out of those 5 players 4 are considered some of the more talented players on the roster. The problem I have with this draft is the uncertainty of Jonas Jennings and Travis Henry, Jennings has made it clear in the past that he wants to go to Atlanta when he becomes a Free Agent this off season. As for Henry he certainly appears to be the odd man out in next years RB derby, you take away those two players and the only remaining guys from the best draft TD has ever had will be Edwards, Schobel, and Clements. Yes this is hypothetical but its well within the realm of possibility's, and IMO it the most likely scenario. Flame Away 2001 Free Agents/Released Players/Re-signed Players Released Players P Chris Mohr G Joe Panos NT Ted Washington OL Ethan Albright QB Doug Flutie LB Sam Rogers RB Antowain Smith LB John Holecek Resigned Players WR Eric Moulds K Steve Christie, IR Following Injury, Later Released Free Agents Larry Centers Shayne Graham, signed after the Christie was injured and the Jack Arians experiment did not work out Summary: You really can't say a whole lot about the off-season moves by TD in 2001, we released a lot of talented players but TD's hand was forced to do so by salary cap hell. Johnson over Flutie? None issue to me, Flutie would have been more successful that year but the talent was so low it wouldn't have mattered. I give TD props for getting us out of cap hell the way he did, he also made good decisions by re-signing Moulds and picking up Larry Centers. The only negative I see is the releasing of Christie, yes he was injured but he obviously recovered quite well and is kicking as good as he ever did today. 2002 Coaching/Management Decisions Fired Mike Shepard OC Named Kevin Gilbride OC Summary: I don't feel the need to elaborate on this one 2002 Draft 1. Mike Williams T Starter 2a. Josh Reed WR Back up/Starter 2b. Ryan Denney DE Back up/Starter 3.^ Coy Wire S Back up 5. Justin Bannan DT Back up 6. Kevin Thomas CB Back up 7a. Mike Pucillo G/C Back up 7b.^ Rodney Wright WR No longer on team 7c.^ Jarrett Ferguson FB No longer on team 7d.^ Dominique Stevenson LB No longer on team Summary: This draft was god awful from start to finish, how is it possible that we have that high of a draft choice and only one true starter to show for it? Mike Williams may turn into a above average OT, but he will never be half as a top 5 pick should be. Reed does not possess the ability to release into his routes and when he does he lacks the speed to get open. Denney was drafted as a project player, several years later he is still just that. Coy Wire......nevermind, you get the picture of how pitiful this draft really was. 2002 Free Agents/Released Players/ Resigned Players Released Players QB Rob Johnson DB Ken Irvin K Shayne Graham OT John Fina DE Erik Flowers LB Sam Cowart Resigned DT Shawn Price CB Chris Watson Free Agents LB London Fletcher TE Dave Moore OT Marcus Price OT Trey Teague LB Eddie Robinson PK Mike Hollis S Billy Jenkins DE Chidi Ahanotu Trades KR Charles Rogers for LB Jay Foreman QB Drew Bledsoe for 2003 #1 Draft Pick Summary: TD had a few very good decisions and a few questionable ones in the 2002 off season, London Fletcher has proved to be a excellent pick up, the decision to sign him over Cowart was a very smart move. Some other players have gone on to have success with the Bills as well, Marcus Price has been a serviceable back up and Trey Teague while being very average for a couple years has come on strong before his recent injury. As for the 2002 Disasters look no further then Eddie Robinson, and the resigning of Chris Watson. The release of Shayne Graham was a mistake as he is having a very successful year with the Bengals, you can't get that upset about the move though as a veteran kicker like Hollis was a safer play. After seeing Charles Rodgers in action I would not trade a peep show mop for his services let alone Jay Forman. The Bledsoe trade has been and will be debated for a very long time, I look at it as a wash, Bledsoe has never been the answer for this team but at the time we had no other options. I don't fault TD for the experiment, I fault him for staying with it. 2003 Coaching/Management Decisions Named Dick LeBeau assistant head coach Summary: Good pick up by TD, this to me really went along way to show Gregg Williams ineptitude. When your Head coach is supposed to be a defensive guru yet you have to bring in another defensive guru it shows you got problems. Its basically saying that Gregg Williams needed help in an area that is supposed to be what he was known for. 2003 Draft 1 Willis McGahee RB Back up 2 Chris Kelsay DE Back up/Starter 3 Angelo Crowell LB Back up 4a Terrence McGee CB Back up 4b Sam Aiken WR Back up 5 Ben Sobieski G/T Practice squad 6 Lauvale Sape DT Practice squad 7 Mario Haggan LB Back up Summary: So much of this drafts success hinges on the ability of Willis MaGahee to become a premier back in this league. Top 5 backs are hard to come by and if Willis ends up being put in that category then this draft will become much better. Kelsay looks like he may become an above average DE but much like Schobel he seems to lack the raw ability to be a dominant pass rusher. McGee was a real find, he is leading the NFL in kick returns and has shown that he may develop into a starting NFL corner at one point. The only other player worth mentioning from this draft is Aiken, he looks talented enough to make the transition to the NFL however until he shows he can utilize that talent on the field I'm not going to get my hopes up. I look at this draft as having the potential to yield 1 stud, 1 serviceable DE, a potential quality starting CB, and a possible 3rd Receiver. If the previously mentioned players step up and meet those expectations then this draft will be a pretty good one, if not it will be a failure. 2003 Free Agents/Released Players/ Resigned Players Released Players TE Jay Riemersma S Billy Jenkins FB Larry Centers LB Eddie Robinson CB Chris Watson Resigned Players QB Travis Brown RB Travis Henry, contract extension Free Agents DE Keith McKenzie LB Jeff Posey LB Takeo Spikes WR Bobby Shaw S Izell Reese WR Antonio Brown DT Sam Adams P Brian Moorman G Ross Tucker SS Lawyer Malloy FB Sam Gash Trade Peerliss Price for Atlanta #1 Pick Summary:This was another successful off season for TD in the free agency market, the signings of TKO, Adams, and Malloy helped turn this sorry defense into one of the more talented in the league. Also considering the fact that PP would have walked it really was a fantastic move to get Atlanta's #1 pick instead of just letting him go. Another great find this off season was Brian Moorman, he has done wonders for our kicking game and is a major asset in the battle for field position. Moves that I consider questionable are the releasing of Larry Centers and the signing of Jeff Posey. Without Centers Bledsoe lost a much needed security blanket, he would have signed cheap and it was obvious Sam Gash did not fit in very well with our offensive plans that year. As for Posey he is a serviceable OLB, however I think once TD signed Posey he has stopped looking for ways to upgrade that position. That is a big mistake considering we need our OLB's to get consistent pressure on the QB, that is something Posey has never really been able to do whether he is blitzing or lining up at DE. 2004 Coaching/Management Decisions Fired Kevin Gilbride OC Fired Gregg Williams HC named Mike Mularkey HC named Tom Clements OC Summary: The firing of Gregg Williams and Kevin Gilbride certainly did not come as surprise. TD obviously made a mistake the first time around in hiring the coaching staff, whether or not he made the same mistake again is yet to be seen. Mike Mularkey has started off with an 0-4 record, just about every football critic thinks that this team is performing well below their talent level. I tend to agree with this but at the same time I don't know how anybody can call this team talented when they have never done anything on the field to back that up. I did not list the hiring of McNally and Wyche because then I would have had to list all the other position coaches that have come and gone over the years, both these position coaches are among the most respected in the game and TD deserves some credit for bringing them in. One thing that is becoming obvious to me as well is that Dick LeBeau should be the DC of this team and not Jerry Gray, why TD wouldn't make a serious push to retain the much more qualified LeBeau is beyond me. 2004 Draft 1 Lee Evans WR Back up/Starter 1 J.P. Losman QB Back up 3 Tim Anderson DT Back up 4 Tim Euhus TE Back up 7 Dylan McFarland OT Back up 7 Jonathan Smith RB Practice squad Summary: It is almost impossible to judge this draft so early but it looks like TD got some very talented players with the first two draft choices. Evans has shown over the last few weeks why we drafted him as he has a 40 plus yard reception in each of the last 3 games. 3 years from now we may end up with one of the more talented WR's in the NFL so give TD credit were credit is due. JP Losman was also looking like a very solid pick up until his injury, you can't judge a player on the preseason but Losman definitely looks like he has all the tools to become a top QB in this league. As for the rest of the draft I have not seen enough of these players to make a judgment about them, my general feeling is a few players (Anderson,Euhus,McFarland) may be good depth players over the coming years and it's possible a starter may emerge from the group. Then again givin TD's previous draft history in the later rounds it would be a mistake to assume that these players will even be Bills three years from now, time will tell. 2004 Free Agents/Released Players/ Resigned Players Released Players Ruben Brown Same Gash Resigned Players Aaron Schobel, contract extension Drew Bledsoe, contract renegotiation Free Agents FB Daimon Shelton G Lawrence Smith CB Troy Vincent OG Chris Villarrial Trades 2004 2nd round pick, 2005 first round pick, for Cowboys 2004 first round pick, selected JP Losman with Cowboys 2004 first round pick. Summary: The Bills had a relatively quiet off season compared to the last few seasons, the two big name free agents in this years crop were Troy Vincent and Chris Villarrial. Both players have performed at average levels so far this season. I look at Villerial as a upgrade over Brown, but don't feel the same way about Vincent over Winfield. Yes Vincent is injured but he has played in a couple games and has yet to get a interception, to be fair you can't really say it was a mistake to get Vincent over Winfield. We simply could not have afforded the inflated contract Winfield got from the Vikings and Vincent was the best free agent option available. I would not call Lawrence Smith a find, he was not a well known player and is starting but I still don't think thats saying a whole hell of a lot with this offensive line. The only other problem I have with these transactions is the big money Schobel received, he was set to become a free agent this off season so I'm glad TD retained the only DE threat on this team. The thing I don't like is the size of the contract, Schobel puts up some nice stats but its obvious to me he will never be an elite DE, he relies on one move to beat OT's and since it is a speed rush he tends to take himself out of the play way to often. As for the much discussed trade to acquire JP Losman it is still way to early to judge that as a failure. The pick we gave Dallas may very well end up being a top 10 selection but if JP can become a good QB and carry this team for the next ten years then I would gladly relinquish a pick that high. If he busts it could be the second worst decision of the TD era only behind the hiring of the original coaching staff. What I see when I look at this information is exactly what I see when I watch the Bills play on Sundays, we have no continuity because we have gotten most our talent as a result of the free agency and not the draft. This plug and play fashion has left this team as a bunch of individuals and not a unit, we have no consistency with the roster or the coaching staff and when that happens its no surprise that we are losing the way we are. Perhaps the most baffling thing about TD's tenure is his complete disregard for the problems along the offensive line, can some please explain to me why TD would address the most glaring weakness of this team the last few years with one draft pick in the first three rounds. Other then that we have picked up a couple average free agents and drafted several late round linemen most of witch are no longer on the team. Is that the proper way to handle what is arguably the most critical aspect of a football team? TD has made some good decisions as the Bills GM but they certainly don't outweigh the bad ones, I don't care how respected he is by his peers, his record as Bills GM is 17-35 and when you look at this information it really is not that surprising. I will no longer be TD advocate and after doing this summary I can't find a valid reason why he should be the GM of the Bills beyond this season.

Does anybody else think it's possible that Henry's past success has been a result of the pass first system Gilbride ran? Before you flame away consider Henry's performance this season. The last few years defenses conceded the run because they knew we would ultimately turn to passing the football. Gilbride did not possess the ability to stick with the ground game no matter how successful it was. I just find it odd that Henry ran well the last two seasons behind a line that was supposed to be worse then the one we have now. I think Henry is a good back, but I'm pretty sure his stats were inflated by the pass happy system we ran under the Gilbride era.

Well last weekend I won a 3 team parlay with the last game being the under for Colts at Jacksonville. It won me 890$, despite that I still felt like the day sucked because we lost. Yes the money does help but I still would rather have a Bills win then win some extra cash. By the by Steve I know you mentioned before that you don't bet college football, I would reconsider the philosophy. I also know more about the pro game but that just means I need to do more research when I make college wagers. The money is in college football IMO, not the NFL.

I'm on my most successful streak in awhile right now, 5 straight wins, 4 of them parlays, all for a little over 1,200$ in profit. So I'm definitely hot right now, whether or not you think it will continue is your call. Here is the goods on what I have set up for this weekend. Texas at Oklahoma Is this year Texas finally wins? I don't know, however at +240 on the money line it is a very good bet. The game is not played in Oklahoma, its played at a neutral site in Dallas Texas, so don't count home field. This game should be interesting, you got Texas who is among the best in the nation on the ground going up against a very strong run defense in Oklahoma. What Oklahoma can't do right now is stop the pass, but Texas can't throw so who knows how that match up will play out. Offensively Oklahoma will have a slight edge on the Texas defense, but it is slight. This game should be a coin toss so taking Texas +240 would be a good play. Minnesota at Michigan Last year Minnesota dominated Michigan for three quarters, the problem was they craped their paints in the fourth quarter allowing Michigan to have their biggest come from behind win in school history. I don't expect that to happen again this year, while Michigan passing games should give Minnesota some problems this game will boil down to who can run the football. Michigan is among the worst in that category this year and Minnesota is the best. At +145 I think Minnesota is the best play of the weekend. California +240 Cleveland Browns +240 Minnesota Vikings -190 Virginia Tech -240 New York Giants +160 For the value Texas/Minnesota are the two games I feel the best about, the other wagers are either games I like against the money line or parlay fillers but look promising none the less. Good luck to all this weekend and remember, no amount of money can compare to a Bills win.

I did not intend this post to be a comparison to Lee Evans as I think comparisons of young players are only good when your comparing two players we had an opportunity to draft. Roy Williams was selected way before Evans so saying we made a mistake by not drafting Williams wouldn't make much sense. A few people started the comparison under this thread and since I disagree with most of the arguments being made I'm gonna go on a little rant now. Obviously if a player does not get enough looks threw out the course of a game he is not going to be able to produce, and yes that has been the case so far with Evans. However being from Lions country I have had the chance to see Williams play quite a bit, and IMO to compare him at this point to any receiver in this draft would not be doing him justice. I just can't picture a scenario were Evans is a Lion and produces at even half the level Williams has in these first three games. This is were Williams currently ranks with the rest of the league Receptions 14th, Yards 7th, TD's 3rd.....He is also putting up 16.3 yards a catch Now whether or not he is the Lions main receiver he is putting up pro bowl numbers, you can't justify those stats by just saying he gets plenty of looks. Stats do sometimes lie but if you have followed the Lions thus far or just seen highlights I'm sure your jaw has dropped more the once at a play Williams has made. Maybe I'm sounding like the president of the Roy Williams fan club but I really am shocked at what he is doing in Detroit right now, especially considering I thought he would bust.

I remember around draft time you thought he would be a bust, I agreed with you back then. Now it looks like he may have the most successful season of any rookie this year. At the time his inability to come up big against good teams and the fact that he was injury prone sent up the red flag. Guess we both missed the boat on that one.

We have played two games so far, in both we had numerous opportunity's to win, both times we failed. Was Bledsoe responsible? To a degree. Was the rest of the team responsible? to a degree. I'm not a Bledsoe hater or supporter, all I want is for this team to succeed. I realize that the statistics don't support Bledsoe anymore but the fact is we don't have anybody else to take his place. My honest opinion? I don't believe Drew will lead this team to the promise land, the reason I don't post a lengthy anti Drew campaign is I know Matthews won't either. I can't for see a situation were we turn into a NFL power this season, but anything is possible, and if the impossible happens it will be with Drew at the helm, not a NFL journeymen or a rookie. I guess I'm just sick of my favorite website turning into 30 different topics discussing the same thing. Bills fans are the smartest fans in the league, I truly believe that. But how much longer can we make that claim when we simplify 3 years of mediocrity into one player? We may be better off without Drew next season but for the time being he is the only option we have. So can we please focus on the team again, because the only way we turn this around is if the whole team does, not just Drew.

I don't usually bump my own threads but this thing got buried in a hurry and I'm sure their are some people who are interested in this information.

Actually I would have felt a little better if we had a chance to tie the game with a two point conversion yesterday. What feels worse....being 0-2 with our current problems or being 1-1 with our current problems?

We have looked bad the last two weeks and my optimism is almost completely lost at this point. While this may be true a wins a win and we could have really used that safety call yesterday. If we get that call we have a chance to tie the game on the Moulds TD with a two point conversion.

Not like Kasey is a scrub by any means, however he did have a bad kickoff in that one game last year.....what was it....oh ya, the super bowl

I agree that Willis still might be a little hesitant, but by saying that isn't that a pretty good indicator of how average Travis has played so far? I mean it seems like Willis has made a play almost every time they asked him to, I certainly can't say that of Henry. We need to get him 8-10 carries a game and utilize him in the passing game/goaline.

Good post BF