Mikie2times

I agree that the line didn’t look good early, but I think that had a lot do to with the Texans stacking the box. This line is not going to simply over power defenses, few lines can. The Bills exploited the Texans defensive scheme in the 1st quarter. JP started out 9 of 10 and was over 100 yards. Shortly after the first the ground game really started to get going. Throw in the defense keeping the Texans offense off the field and the Texans D just wore out. This strategy will be this years blue print for success. The defense will likely continue to keep offenses off the field, giving us TOP and boosting the ground attack. If JP keeps teams from stacking the box our ground game will be very effective. What I liked the most is I just don’t see us giving up many sacks this year. JP's mobility really helps, but even without that he had 7 or 8 seconds on more then one occasion. As Brent Jones said we haven't seen pass blocking in Buffalo this good since the Kelly days. Yes it was just one game, but the progress that is being shown is excellent, and they should only continue to get better.

Not like I forgot the Patriots opener, it was just one game. But the Texans, as horrible as they looked, will probably be around .500 at the end of the year. We dominated every faucet of the game, and despite it being only one game I think many of the teams biggest question marks went in our favor. The line played great, and Willis and the defense wore down the Texans. The defensive line had great pressure on the QB all game (Kelsey looked like a monster). The secondary was unrelenting, and the LB group showed why it's the best in the league. We need to improve in some areas but I don't see us not improving. That’s what’s great about having youth. Next week will be a difficult challenge, JP's first road game against an underrated Bucs squad.

How will the Bills offensive line hold up? It appears that the left side is going to be just fine, both Benny and Gandy had a very good games. The right side was also strong, and Preston showed he could give us some depth at C and G. The pass blocking was the best we have seen in years, and with JP's added mobility I don't expect this team to give up many sacks this year. How Will the Bills defense hold up without Pat Williams? The Bills have a hyped defense; a defense that many predicted would be outstanding this year. In this game they took it a step further, pure domination. If this unit plays like this all year they will be remembered in the class of the Ravens, 70's Steelers, and 85 Bears. Will JP be able to manage the game? Not only will he be able to manage the game but he will become an asset as the season progresses. He played very well with a few poor decisions, but overall it was an outstanding debut. He showed great leadership and enthusiasm, and it really looks like this is his team. But the mobility difference as compared to Bledsoe really stands out. On 4 or 5 plays he turned sacks into gains, and should be good for around 35 yards on the ground a week. As his decision making improves watch out, he really does have all the tools.

MAC schools have been known for producing QB's, but have they ever produced a RB that had first round talent? Chester Taylor comes to mind as the Ravens back up from Toledo, but he was a 6th round pick. This kid from Northern Illinois has plenty of speed and power and has rushed for big yardage in the house of two big ten schools. If he can shake the fumbleitis he looks like an easy first rounder.

Stay tuned for further announcements

1.) 4 to 1 in favor of Willis- D.D is talented but the Bills defense is strong. Plus you got to figure Willis should get around 30 carries on Sunday. Prediction- Davis 61 Willis 115 2.) 2 to 1 in favor of Carr- Carr is a better quarterback then JP until proven otherwise. The odds would be more in his favor if he wasn't facing such a strong defense. Prediction: Carr 1 Losman 0 (He runs one in) 3.) 3 to 1 in favor of Buffalo- Houston will have an improved pass rush that might look even better against the Bills offensive line. But with Buffalo's aggressive style of D and JP's mobility they should get more sacks then Houston. Prediction: Texans 3 Bills 5

Listening to Madden do this game was like listening to him broadcast an early 90's Cowboy game. What I wonder is if he even bothered to take Aikmen's poll out of his mouth before he inserted Brady's. By the way does anybody know how Tom Brady has such good footwork? Rumor has it he’s been jumping rope since 4th grade

I took them one night and drank heavily, still ended up feeling like sh-- the next day. I even took the allotment it says to so I was popping those things non stop threw out the night. Maybe they work for a small amount of alcohol but anybody looking for a hangover remedy is probably looking for something a bit more potent, to bad that something doesn’t exist.

What surprised me about the video was how basic the concepts are. Cover 2 and Cover 1, both basic high school football schemes. I'm sure the blitz packages and stunts get pretty complex but football is football no matter what the level. When you get players as talented as the NFL the difference is paper thin. A couple plays or players separate winning and losing, as big al said in Any Given Sunday, this is a game of inches.

Or you could run a bomb right off the bat, then run Willis on second and you’re still looking at 3rd and long. Obviously the deep ball is not a high percentage play but you need to take your shots at some point. Teams like to go deep off turnovers because a defense tends to be relaxed, the opposite can be said about defenses for the start of a game but it makes the deep pass just as effective. The Texans are expecting the Bills to run often. You show them what they expect, and then you try and go over the top. If it’s completed we likely get points out our first drive, if not the coverage will get a little softer which should make the rest of the day a little more comfortable for JP. Time will tell

I expect a pre-designed bomb at some point in the first series. I'm guessing they run Willis on first, and then air it out to Lee for the second play.

I read an article on France in another thread that had several Jon Gruden quotes. From what I saw Gruden thought he could make every kick in the game, and that he was also capable of handling different weather and playing surfaces. I guess the battle between him a Brein was extremely close, with Briens experience giving him the edge. Gruden also went onto say that he will become a very good NFL kicker. His NFL Europe statistics indicate power, as he attempted and made a couple 50+ yarders. He recently hit a 46 yarder in preseason, and showed no dramatic drop of from his NFL Europe stats when kicking from 40-49 as compared to 30-39. That combined with what Gruden had to say leads me to believe this kid will land somewhere. Hopefully we give him a shot as many of the good younger kickers seem to bounce round for awhile before getting settled (Shayne Graham comes to mind ).

I got Moss with the 6th Pick, I figured take the best WR with the best RB's and Peyton gone. I'm probably just gonna wait it out for now and see how my backs do. Anderson is starting in Denver so he could add some depth to my team. The other 3 offer decent potential, and as it is I'm probably the only one in my league starting a RB in the WR/RB slot. Thanks for the advice though, I'll keep it in mind.

I gotta say they put Robinson on Moulds. Lee warrants plenty of attention now that he has showed his skills. But even when it was clear Evans was a player last year defenses still focused on taking Moulds out of our passing game. They also have Philip Buchanan who has plenty of speed and agility. He would seem to match up reasonably well with Evans. Texans have a good young group of starting corners that’s for sure.

Just curious as to what others think about my draft. Had the 6th Pick in a 10 team league, I probably made some mistakes but I still think I have a solid squad. The format is QB- RB-RB-WR-WR-WR/RB-TE-K-DEF. QB Trent Green QB Jake Plummer RB Rudi Johnson RB Curtis Martin RB Kevin Jones RB Mike Anderson WR Randy Moss WR Drew Bennent WR Donald Driver WR Derick Mason WR Marcus Robinson TE Jason Whitten TE L.J Smith Defense Buffalo Kickers Sebastian Janikowski

I’m watching it, Jacobs is the man but I'm still surprised how easily they have moved the ball. Jacobs at the half is over 300 yards and has 4 TD's, Calhoun will probably rush for 300+. Great game!

I realize the point you’re trying to make but half the people on that list don't fit the trend you’re speaking of. Cowart- Had major injury concerns, the Bills signed Fletcher to replace him. Would you rather we kept Cowart instead? Henry Jones- Was past his best years and never went on to have the kind of success he had early in his career after he left the Bills Sam Gash- We went with more of a receiving FB in Larry Centers instead of Gash. The lack of a huge contract is not why he left. Rueben Brown- We outright released him because his play wasn't close to the $ he was receiving. As for Winfield he was and still is worth the $, but it’s not like it was a bad move to let him go. MaGee is no scrub and comes at bargain price with plenty of upside. With JJ and PW the Bills just didn’t think they’re worth the price they got. JJ has always had injury problems and PW isn't getting any younger. Not to mention they both got pretty large paydays. All these guys aren't top 5 players that the Bills simply decided not to pay. They're talented players with question marks, most of which ended up signing big contracts only to do nothing after they left town.

How Clarett is spending his time Thought this link was great so I decided to pass it along. Enjoy!! By the way make sure you look at all the pages, 4 of them when I posted this.

Ahhh that’s right, now its coming back to me. But still the point about his arm strength is still valid. For all his short comings Bledsoe had cannon, and we watched plenty of QB's struggle badly with the winds last year. Not so sure his arm could hold up at the Ralph in December.

Well obviously the P word is why he is starting, and I'm not disagreeing with that. In fact if I had the choice I would do the same thing the Bills did. I disagree though that Holcomb puts us at 7-9, 8-8, 9-7. I think we might be a 10-6 team with Holcomb, not because he is some stud QB, but simply because of the ST, Defense, and #21. For now do you roll the dice with JP and the Big P? Of course, but if the ship starts to sink we do have other options. I think Holcomb can perform at Bledsoe like levels or slightly better. That’s not to far off based given his career QB rating compared to what Bledsoe gave us last year. Last year we went 9-7 with a team very similar to the one we have now. How is this prediction so unreasonable? My thread was just asking at what point would you turn to Holcomb if JP is really struggling. If it gotten too much play on the wall you'll have to excuse me, been over a month since my last post.

By the way people I'm speaking about in season changes. Such as if JP's development is not going well do we put in a guy that might give us a better chance at winning or ride it out?

Slow down bud, I NEVER said savior, in fact I thought I was pretty clear that I don't know who gives us the best chance at winning. Still the garbage list you assembled of Kelly Holcomb career compares favorably to that of a player that has never started an NFL game.

I have been thinking about this for awhile and still don't have a concrete answer. How much should we value getting JP experience as opposed to giving the team the best chance to win now? JP has looked like he should look this preseason. A young quarterback with all the skills, just lacking in some development areas. At this point it appears that the only real way to get over those development problems for him is playing in game situations. Our other option right now is Kelly Holcomb, an experienced vet with great accuracy but little arm strength. IMO he would have a difficult time navigating the Ralph winds in December. A problem he had in a windy game last year but let’s also remember he was going up against a very talented Bills D. So who gives us the best chance to win now? If you believe 100% that it’s JP Losman, and that’s why he is starting then you’re likely a homer or don't believe politics exist in the NFL. I'm not saying that JP is not the correct answer to that question, as the staff has decided to go that route and time will tell. I'm just saying that as it stands now, and by judging the two players experience, and preseason play, its certainly possible that Kelly Holcomb could be the best win now player. The staff decided early that they would announce JP as the man at QB, and plenty of logic supports that decision. It should go on to improve his play for the coming year, and it gave our team an early identity. But the fact remains that he got the job without winning it, hell he got it before our roster was even set yet. To me that says that at least part of him starting is because of draft status, potential, and his future development. If things go well then this will become a dead issue. But if things aren't going so well it will be interesting to see how long the staff values his development over possibly going with a player that gives you a better chance at coming out on top.

This is going to be long but it needs to be to properly explain how terminology works. The terminology used in play calling grows much more complex as you advance in level. That’s not because they want to make things more confusing, it just mean players have much more complex assignments. However all play calling has the same general guidelines. On a team by team basis these guidelines are described with different wording to disguise the play. So to actually know what the specific wording is for each team would be impossible for someone who is not involved with the team. It probably even changes year to year somewhat and possibly a little bit during the year at the NFL level. The general structure of a play is something like this QB-RB-FB gets assigned a number; in my experiences those numbers have been 1, 2, and 4 respectively. The offensive lineman also get assigned numbers from 1-9. These numbers represent running lanes. So a typical running play would say formation first, followed by the strong side, followed by a number, followed by blocking assignment, then cadence. Say the play is Eye right 24 zones on three, Eye Right is the formation and the strong side, 24 would be the tailback running to running lane 4, Zone would be the blocking assignment, and 3 would be the cadence. In passing plays receivers are assigned either letters to indicate their position, or are given a predetermined place in the terminology of the play. For example the slot receiver might know that he is the third pattern to be called in each play, or he might be given a letter such as Z. Passing routes are also given either letters or numbers to describe what pattern to run, or they are just called exactly what they are. NFL teams probably combine all three methods to help disguise the plays. Say the play is Shotgun Right X12 OUT S Option on three, Shotgun Right is the formation and strong side, X12 describes the X receiver running a 12 route, OUT describes the second receiver running an out route, S option describes the 3rd receiver running a Slant route with the option of changing his route to suit the coverage, and three describes the cadence. What makes the NFL's play calling so complex is not the basic plays being called, its the other eight million options within a play that give players freedom to change their assignments based on how the defense lines up.

I aint skinny dippin with no dudes