Bob in STL

Wow! Please, tell me your joking.

According to Marv World War II was a must win.

I disagree ... If so then why did San Diego end up with Rivers? Nice try.

The Bills recievers were wide open on the first two series of the game. It looked likes the Jets way over stacking for the run and Losman was going to feast on this. The Jets staff made some great adjustments to improve their coverage. These adjustments did allow us to run the ball as witnessed by McGahee's 150 yards. We just did not convert in the red zone. Coming away with 0 points on the 2nd drive took away some momentum. Once we fell behind it got much more difficult to throw. Overall I was impressed on the time that Losman had, he often had time to look off the 1st and 2nd receivers. I thought that the WRs did a poor job of getting opened once their routes were finnished. It looked to me like the WRs would stop and leave JP hanging. JP had opportunities to run himself and elected to pass. He decision making often shows his lack of experience. I attribute some this to a lack of chemistry between the WRs and JP. On the last drive it was so hard to say who was open and for how long. No one was wide open that I could see. It sure seemed like throwing downfield was a better option than 4 passes sideways. The rain and wind were major obstacles, I don't think that came out on TV. I saw the middle of the field wide open at times. It looked like we wanted to hit sideline passes to stop the clock and reduce the turnover opportunities. The Jets played that very well. With one minute and one timeout left, I think we could have sent the WRs deep and to the sidelines and then tried to split the seam over the middle with Royal or Everett but heck ... I'm just a fan. Again, the Jets staff made some excellent adjustments and deserve credit, and the weather got very bad right after the on-sides kick.

ESPN has aired a highlight tribute on Joe Ferguson's career. it is very interesting to hear what the other great plays from the 70's and early 80's said about Joe. Buck Buchanon, a HoF DT for the Chiefs, said that you had to always worry about Joe making a great pass to beat you. He has considered one of the toughest players in the game. He took a pounding anfd kept coming back. I still believe that the only thing that stopped that 80's team from making the Super Bowl was injuries. In the San Diego Playoff game Jeff Nixon, our safety, fell down and Dan Fouts hit what amounted to their 5th string wideout for a long TD. One mistake decided the game. Simpson would not have even been playing had not Jeff Nixon, and then Rod Kush, both been injured during the season. Nixon was having a pro Bowl year. Kush was an up and coming player too. Simpson was a veteran at the twilight of his careeer, brought in by Coach Knox to plug a hole. It was very unfortunate. Fergy played the game on one leg and the san Diego defensive linemen we teeing off, trying to knock him out of the game. Joe never backed down.

I was there and seeing Joe was one of my favorite parts of the game. He looked great and hopefully he beat the cancer.

Did he just commit a crime?

Yes, your right he should have deliberately not tried to catch it {sacasm intended} If it was 3rd and 10, rather than 3rd and 13, the defense would not have given the receiver a 10 yead cushion, so you don't know. I was there ... The winds were very high and the rain was coming down hard. The Jets were in a prevent and all Losman could find were guys behind the line of scrimmage. The entire offense did not have it together at that point in the game. Maybe someday soon the offense will pull one out.

I had a great time tailgating with my Brothers and their kids. Next season my two sons will be back ---- just couldn't swing it this year. The wind and rain were a good change for me, better than dome ball any day. I really enjoyed seeing the players fom the 60's, 70's and 80's. The part when Fergy was introduced gave me chills. Bravo to the Bills organization for doing things like this. Onto the game --- We played good enough to win and bad enough to lose. The difference was the turnovers. Most of my insights are about JP. He is trying hard and improving. He is still very raw and needs experience; hopefully that will clean up his game. If we do not score early and often we will probably lose. Note to coaches: stop all the crazy 4th down calls, stick to the basics, take all the points you can get, play the percentages. The OL is improved but still not very strong. The red zone problems and the 3rd and short problems are an indication of that fact. They simply do not move the line of scrimmage. Most of the big runs came from the 3 wideout spread formation. The Bills actually used the pass to set up the run. The Jets coaching staff made adjustments throughout the game and their QB played error free. That was the difference. It was really windy!!! When we recovered the onside kick I was one of the 15,000 people still in the stadium. What happens next? The wind picks up and the rain starts coming down hard. At that time I felt that God really must not be a Bills fan. I'll be back next year! cheers!

The upper level needs some paint and TLC --- yes. Restroonm are always a bit rough up there. The stadium is old and does not have enough the restroom and concessions capability to faciliate 74.000 people. Never did. The design was always lacking in this area and has been improved a little bit. The old place has character and is not a dump.

Sorry to hear that. I was at the game. There are always a few A@@holes out there that ruin things. Too bad the tailgaters near you didn't stop the culprit. I would have.

I was at the game and the difference was the quaterbacking. Penningtom was smart, error free, and efficient. Losman had the better whells and the better arm .. he just needs time to learn. At times JP did lock on, other times he looked at other recievers and made the plan. I did not notice a trend of locking on to one reciever. On many plays the OL gave Losman a lot of time (I was surprised) and he could not find a reciever. Many times there were 4 in the pattern and no one was open. What I think they need to work on is getting open when the intial routes are over. I think the Bills recievers did a very poor job of coming back to the line of scrimage to help him out. Many times they stood out there covered. Call it chemistry or whatever but Coles and Pennington were always on the same page.

QUOTE Mangini prepared his team for the noise at Ralph Wilson Stadium with a medley of Buffalo-themed songs blaring over the sound system at the start of practice yesterday. The set list: "Ladies Nite in Buffalo?" by David Lee Roth; "Shout" by The Isley Brothers mixed with some radio calls of Bills' touchdowns; a song created by the Buffalo Chamber of Commerce in the late 1970s called "Talking Proud;" and Bob Marley's "Buffalo Soldier." The DJ then dialed up Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again." END QUOTE They blew it on "Shout". They should have used the Otis Day and the Knights version. Typical rookie coach.

It is also wrong for people to sit here guessing about it and naming names.

That Marv is surely too old to make good decisions on draft day

I stand corrected on the third quarter score. and good research on the play count. I would not call their playcalling "run heavy" but certainly it was more balanced than most of us percieved. That said, I am still quite comfortable with Mularkey being the OC for Miami.

Correct to a point but how can you let Mularkey off the hook? He once again gave up on the run way to early. They were only down by 7 in the 3rd quarter, at home, against a team that is suspect agianst the run. Yet they were passing on almost every down. On top of that, the Dolphins were having big problems pass blocking and reading Fewell's defensive alignments. Seem like a good time to simplify the offense. Your right, Mularkey has a poor OL to work with. However, good coaches play to the strengths of their players and they help cover their weaknesses. Mularkey fails in this area. He never met a trick play he didn't like.

I will be at the game on Sunday for my yearly Bills trip. Tail gating with three of my brothers and the kids. This is always one of my best weekends of the year for me and a time we all look forward to. We prefer sunshine to rain but no matter. Lets just win this one!! I am hoping we run and stop the run. That is my mantra for the season!

Mularkey is not a "players coach". For some reason he did not inspire the players, especially the veterans who know him for the tool that he is. Moulds had a good rep until mularkey came along.

Exactly right. Meathead and/or Gray had Adams miscast. Adams could not fill the role that Pat Williams played and neither could Anderson or Bannan, etc.

your hysterical at times. I'm cracking up

Hey, great post. I really do think that you hit on something. Modrak does deserve a lot of credit as he provides the information on the players in the draft. Modrak and his team provide the core data that is used to evaluate the players and positions. What it looks like is that in this draft the data was used better than in the past. I think that Marv deserves credit for how that information is assembled and shared with the staff. He then pulls out even more important information on the players by having the coaches involved. To my knowledge, TD's autocratic style did not use this process. Marv does not manage, he leads.

So what lineman do you take? We will see at the end of the season which lineman, taken after Whitner, has a bigger impact. There are no gaurantees in the draft.

Football has changed from the time the Bills dominated in the 90's. Safeties are now much more important, especially the strong safety. This postion has become a hybrid small linebacker/ big cornerback type of position. Guys that can play the run and are good in coverage are getting premium dollars. Somehow, old guy Marv knew this. So far, this looks like a very good pick. Given our huge needs we have at safety, and the defensive scheme that is being installed, Whitner was a wise pick. Unlike drafting a QB, Whitner's chances of making an impact are higher and it was important to get an excellent player with this pick.

Ralph did not take the cheap road. He put his trust in TD and TD made the selections for head coach. TD whiffed on Gregg Williams, he let John Fox and Marvin Lewis get away. He blew it even worse on Mularkey, making the same mistake hiring a rookie coach. The selection of bad coaches is ALL TD. TD hired rookie coaches that would not question his authority. Remember that TD lost a power struggle with Bill Cowher, and was ousted at Pittburgh. The last thing he was going to do was bring in a strong head coach. TD's ego is huge. He ran all phases of the team his record is his.