Mikie2times

Did the fact that he was a white guy putting up those numbers add to the media attention/draft hype? I think that's a definite yes, but white or black a guy that is 6'6 240 running that fast and jumping that high is rare for ANY player, and would be a first round pick in almost any year.

Like I said whites play those positions in high school just because plenty of primarily white areas exist in this country. At college your right, I imagine it is very hard for a white player to play a speed position. You feel that the stereotype that whites have gotten at the speed positions is what keeps them out of the pro and college game. I just feel that the pro and college game is past stereotypes, that winning is far too important. That is ultimately what led to the rise of the black QB, the demand of winning, and if explosive white athletes were common place we would see them at these positions. Perhaps we can just agree to disagree on this one.

People did think black QB's were to dumb then, and they simply didn't get developed into QB's because they never played the position. That was obviously way of base, but in no way does that further justify what’s happening to white players at the speed positions today. Plenty of white athletes play the speed positions in high school, its simply impossible for that not to happen with the population difference. I was a CB in high school, and we had two African American players on my team, and throughout my conference 1 African American started at CB out of 15 teams. The disparity comes at the college level when for the first time a coach can actively recruit a certain quality at an each position. Each position becomes ultra specialized, and in the competitive fabric of the game coaches realized certain position were better filled by fast explosive athletes. Oppression and stereo types held back the African American QB, but that’s not what’s holding back today’s white players from playing speed positions. In football today millions is at stake in boosters, revenue, and merchandise sales. Only the best players play, and if a white kid posted a monster combine day like we routinely see African Americans do they will play the speed positions. It’s not like a bunch of white 20 year olds are just walking the streets with a sub 4.4 forty, and 40 inch vertical.

1. Pressure Brady 2. Don't allow 150 yards rushing 3. Don't allow 250 Yards passing 4. Don't let the Patriots convert 75% on third down. 5. Complete a pass over 20 yards more then once 6. Get over 120 yards on the ground with Willis. Sadly I don't think we do anyone of those things, and that is being a realist because that’s exactly what the stats, and history indicate.

Obviously we have no way of knowing what football would be like if it had global appeal, but I still think we have a fairly accurate test group as is. You have 216 million Caucasians in America, and most of them have multiple lineages which should capture the overall world fairly well. In comparison African Americans make up around 35 million people. So your test group consists of a nearly 6 to 1 ratio in favor of Caucasians, and that’s not even counting the fact the African Americans got a very late start in football because of persecution. Considering year after year talent scouts draft fast, explosive players at RB, CB, and WR and over 95% of those players are African American, that’s not enough evidence to suggest they have stronger likelihood of running faster, and jumping higher? Sure a European interest in American football would increase the amount of Caucasians at these positions, but that’s only because the pools 6 to 1 ratio would increase even more.

Just so I understand your position correctly answer this question for me. In your opinion if you randomly selected 2000 African American males, and 2000 Caucasian males and every one of them was the same height, weight, and age, do you feel the African Americans would post as higher 100 meter time, and vertical jump then Caucasians would? I'm not saying that white males don't excel at certain sports, or are always going to be slow. I just think enough evidence exists in American sports to indicate those 2000 African Americans would be more likely to post higher 100 meter times, and vertical jumps on average. DB' in the NFL have got to be around 98% black, RB's (excluding FB's) are 100% black, WR are well over 90% black. All these positions require jumping ability, agility, and speed, and blacks simply dominate these positions despite the huge contrast in population.

Cox's way of thinking on this issue compared to Myers fill in really reminds me of the Chappelle show debate. Some think the guy is a racist but he's not, he makes mockery of every race, even his own. Some people get it while others view his show as racist and offensive. The problem is the people that find it offensive think they should stand up and protect all those people from the hateful skits, but in reality the people they try and protect enjoy the show, and probably have a much healthier outlook on race then a oversensitive PC freak would ever hope to have.

I remember praying as a kid before the first Super Bowl, the second Super Bowl, the third Super Bowl, and the Fourth Super Bowl. Something tells me god doesn't give a rats ass about football and if he does he sure doesn’t care for our Bills that much.

So the Air Force coach made a comment after the game with TCU that basically said TCU was a much faster team, largely because they have more African American players, and in his experience African American players tend to be much faster then other players. Here is the link to the story ESPN Story Today he was forced to apologize for the comments, and of course the media onslaught followed. I ask why? Have we become so sensitive about race that we can't even discuss a widely accepted finding by the scientific community? It's not a coincidence that the speed positions in football are dominated by African Americans, along with the 100 meter race, and the Kenyans complete dominance in long distance running. We talk about Jewish people being more susceptible to Tay-Sachs, or Asians being shorter on average then Europeans, but why is it so taboo to point out what seems to be a very obvious result of evolution? How else can you explain the drastic disparity between African Americans in the general population, and the % of "speed" positions they fill in American sports? This whole PC crap is getting a little out of hand.

Two tight ends I like are Vernon Davis of Maryland, and Dominique Byrd of USC. Davis is one of those freak types players, breaking all of Marylands weight records, running a 4.4, and having 3% body fat. The guy will likely be this years Boss Bailey, or Matt Jones if he decides to pass up his senior year. Byrd is not as freakish as Davis but is a very athletic receiver, and is something we just don't have at TE right now. Of course this is all dependent on Kevin Everett, but I would hate to see management hold out hope on a guy off a blown knee without a NFL snap. The TE is becoming a big weapon in the NFL and we need a guy that can stretch defenses. If we can get either of these guys in the second we should consider them, as for the first we should go OT, either Marcus McNeill of Auburn or the D from Virginia.

1. The Patriots don't have a devastating rushing attack but Corey Dillion is still one of the leagues toughest backs to bring down, and this defense has really had problems tackling RB's this year. We got gashed by Oakland and the Jets who happened to rank 25th and 29th in rushing, we won't stop Dillion even if he is a little banged up. As far as passing goes many think Brady hasn't had great protection this year but they still rank second in sacks per pass attempt. He averages a sack every 33 drop backs, while the even more immobile Kerry Collins averaged one every 15 drop backs. If we couldn't pressure Collins effectively how will we pressure an even more difficult QB to get to? 2. Think about answer one, and consider what Mularkeys MO has been when we get down. The Patriots offensively are WAY better the Oakland, a top 5 unit. They will score, and MM will stop running the football and turn to the leagues 31st ranked passing offense. This is the exact tendency that got us into the rest of the Sunday night massacres and it's shaping up to happen again. 3. Even if we wanted to throw deep we can't, either the line won't protect, Kelly won’t get it their, or JP will miss on it. If you don't count the throw to Evans in the first quarter of the Texans game we haven't hit a pass this year that sailed 35 yards in the air. New England will stack the box, blitz, play bump and run, or flood the short zones, and nothing we have done this season indicates we can beat that look. You're right about one thing, if Buffalo wins this game it would be very improbable, but I just don't see this team doing the improbable. This is not a team that has done anything improbable on the road against good teams since TD came here. That is a defining test of a team, and we've never come close to passing it in the past, and won't with an even worse team this season.

Good post I still think the Patriots can beat any team in the NFL despite the average start. New England might not be as good as last years team but as you pointed out the schedule they played was very difficult. They still have one of the leagues strongest passing games, and it's only a matter of time before Dillion gets going.

The Bills have been ranked 25, 22, and now 31st in yards per pass attempt the past three years. Sure the yards per game are influenced by a team running out the clock, or a good defense, but that doesn't affect yards per pass. As an example the Steelers (often running out the clock, good defense) are currently ranked 24th in yards passing per game, but first in yards per pass attempt. They may not throw very often, but when they do they have great effectiveness. Buffalo is the complete opposite, ranked both 31st in pass yardage and 31st in yards per pass attempt. It's not only that we haven’t hit 300 in 35+ games; it's that we haven't even had a 200 yard passer in the last 11 games. At some point in the NFL your passing game is going to be called upon to produce yardage, and the disparity amongst teams is simply too small to not be able to pass. Watch the elite teams play and it's like a chess game as they both try and find any way to create yards. When a team can so easily take away the threat of a passing game it makes everything else that much harder.

Why, I see no reason why we can't stop one of the leagues best running attacks. Bills 42-7 in a route

It's startling isn't it? I mean we could really score that year, especially early on, but the defense was just horrible. I always contended that was the best offense we had under TD, and paired with last years defense would have fielded a strong playoff contender. All off-season we screamed defense, and from then on we played pretty solid defense for two years. Right now I think those memories of 2002 are so distant that we couldn't draw a comparison, we just simply felt the defense would be heading in a direction soon, and that direction would be more like last season. The fact is Takeo may never return to the player he was, we will probably lose Nate, and the rest of the defense is aging quickly. This defense is not only resembling 2002, but it's even worse on the ground, and that was our Achilles heal that year. If TD survives the media and fan onslaught I expect a ton of noise this off-season, ala 2003.

I know the fishy line theory, and it's true, but this line is far from that and either was the UVA-NC game. The Patriots have fallen from public team status in most bettors minds, and statistically should be around a 7 to 9 point favorite. Keep in mind the average joe bettor isn't aware of the Bills Sunday night woes, and probably doesn't appreciate just how badly we've been destroyed by the Patriots in Gillette (even the scores don't do it justice) The Bills haven't had a surprising road upset in several years, and in gut check games against good teams we simply haven't come close. I hit it at 7.5 and that number will probably rise over 10 soon, obviously no bet is a lock but this one is pretty solid. As for UVA-UNC, UNC has actually been very solid this year with the exception of the Louisville game. I also had the line on par with the bookies which tells me that it wasn't a trap game, and more about Virginia being overvalued off a huge upset of the Seminoles. Had Virginia lost that game the line would of probably been UNC -3 given the circumstances.

If the Bills want to compete next season they better put him in if the Patriots beat us. We gave it a run with Kelly, but if we go 3-5 heading into the bye we have zero chance catching the Patriots given the schedules. I can accept one more freaking year with no playoffs, hell I already accepted it, but I can't accept the QB position being in disarray going into next year. If the team wants to give up because of the move fug um, every year teams go threw this exact same thing and most still fight to the end.

It's not exactly like the man that assembled this team would admit any midseason failures, or any GM for that matter, but I'm really starting to get pissed at listening to the same stuff we heard back when GW was around. Can you imagine if we could have a rebuttal for the crap that comes out of this guy’s mouth during the Q&A segment every week? Here is a couple of my rebuttles for NFL's king of spin, feel free to post yours. Question: why can’t the Bills stop the run on defense and put up points in the second half on offense. Tom Donahoe: Our biggest problems to date have been inconsistency on both sides of the ball. Many of our problems defensively have resulted from poor tackling. Offensively we have shown flashes of the ability to move the ball and control the clock. What we have to strive for is to develop more consistency as a football team. Rebuttal: Considering inconsistency has been the excuse you have given to us fans for several years at what point do you take responsibility for not bringing in more consistent players? I also agree that we haven't been tackling well, but isn't tackling a fundamental part of defense, and if so who was responsible for assembling a defense that is not fundamentally sound? Question: How do you propose the Bills find consistent and long-term success given that the sub-par/under talented/overwhelmed offensive line has not been addressed at all in many years? Tom Donahoe: Each year over the last four we have made adjustments and improvements to our offensive line. We have done it through draft choices as Mike Williams is an example of a number one pick, and we have also addressed the line through free agency. Our line has proven to be very good run blockers and we have had thousand yard rushers in three of the last four seasons and are on pace to have another one this year. Our pass protection has been inconsistent. Rebuttal: In your time as Bills GM you have drafted 2 OL in the first three rounds of the draft, one is no longer on this team, the other is a RT who played 2 full games this year, and currently makes more then any other player on the roster. We have made adjustments in each of the past four years, but isn't this an indication that each year we didn't have the right group of starters? In addition 18 teams had a thousand yard rusher last season, and the whole league would have one if every team had one primary back. In a 12 game season this could be something to hang your hat on, but not in today’s NFL.

I know I'm not a true Bills fan, blab bla. I'll be rooting for the Bills next weekend as always, but I look at gambling as an investment and this is a strong play. Morale will be low as this Bills team leaves Oakland, and I really doubt things will change much before the bye week. We looked like a baffled and beaten team on Sunday, and have appeared completely lost on the road this year. Enter in a New England team that has heard about the first place Bills all week, off a loss, and the Bye. Add in the Sunday night theory, the Teddy Bruschi effect, and the fact that a loss by the Patriots would give the Bills the division lead. Like I said a Bills win would mean more then winning the bet, but money's money, and New England 7.5 is as solid as they come. Here’s to eating some crow next Sunday night!!

WOW....

skins -12.5

I don't know if this was directed at me, or just in general, but I agree that the losses shouldn't all be pinned on JP. When JP was in the QB position wasn't getting any production, and the rest of the team wasn't playing that well. With Holcomb in he's been able to do enough when you combine the improved play elsewhere. It may not have been all JP's fault, but as the coaches recognized we couldn't be a playoff caliber team getting that kind of production at the QB position.

We had two choices at the start of this season, take your lumps, or compete for a spot. Sure everybody likes to document Pittsburgh as accomplishing both at the same time, but it's pretty obvious that was a rare situation. Had we started Kelly all along we would probably be sitting at 4-2, or perhaps 5-1. The only game we didn’t have a prayer was TB. Instead after 4 weeks we tried righting the ship, and the result might be the double whammy, JP's progression getting hurt, and missing the playoffs. I fault the Bills for not making a decisive decision either way, not for making the change. It's not as if this was some unforeseeable event, hell I even posted on it prior to the season. Of course the one way to save face is by making the playoffs, because if they fall just short it will even further magnify this mistake.

I'm far from somebody who thinks Kelly Holcomb is a savior, but he gives us a chance right now, and JP was not doing that. We had two choices, let JP play and learn, which would likely give us a no chance this season, or let Holcomb play until we get knocked out of contention. Neither decision is incorrect, it's just that one provides more instant gratification then the other.

Nobody can tell for sure whether or not JP would have turned the corner by now, but to even say it's a 50-50 chance is a huge leap. JP was playing bad, even worse then the majority of first year starters do. Here is a comparison I did a few weeks ago on the first four starts of recent QB's. Group 1 is players I don’t think we want JP to be associated with, Group 2 are player we would like JP to become. JP Losman- 48% 433 Yards 1TD 2INT Group 1 Harrington - 54% 957 Yards 5TD 5INT Krenzel- 46% 603 Yards 3TD 5INT Boller- 53% 468 Yards 2TD 6INT Carr- 45% 519 Yards 4TD 6INT Grossman- 50% 664 Yards 2TD 3INT McNown- 61% 851 Yards 3TD 2INT Ramsey- 51% 858 Yards 6TD 4INT Dorsey- 55% 755 Yards 5TD 7INT Average- 52% 709Yards 3.75 TD 4.75 INT Group 2 Brees- 59% 608 Yards 4TD 2INT Brady- 61% 820 Yards 5TD 0INT Lefwhich- 56% 981 Yards 4TD 8INT E. Manning- 39% 450 Yards 1TD 6 INT Pennington- 77% 1005 Yards 6TD 2INT Big Ben- 71% 761 Yards 5TD 2INT Palmer- 55% 875 Yards 3 TD 7INT Average- 60% 785 Yards 4TD 3.86INT Out of all 15 QB’s JP is last in yards, tied for last in TD’s, and has a better completion % then only three other QB’s. Of course these statistics guarantee nothing in terms of his future, but considering his first four game put him below Ken Dorsey, Joey Harrington, Patrick Ramsey, and Josh McNown, it would be a huge stretch to think he would give us a better chance to win in Oakland then KH. The one encouraging thing I take from this is Eli Manning, check out those god awful numbers. Sure these stats give us a barometer to measure his progress, but some players just break the mold, let’s hope JP is one of those guys.