KurtGodel77

I totally agree: Matthews isn't the answer at QB. Losman might well be. Going into next year's draft, I'd do this: Trade TH for whatever I could get. If I was lucky, it'd be a 2nd round pick. I'd take a 3rd round pick for him, but nothing less than that. I'd either cut Mike Williams, or give him a massive paycut and move him to guard. If he refuses, he's gone. Jonas Jennings should get a fair offer, but nothing too substantial. Chances are that he's gone too. Marcus Price could start, but we'd need to draft someone to start opposite to him. This plan would give us three picks in the first three rounds. We'd have three starting positions on the OL to fill (OT, C, OLG). So I'd do that, and then worry about other positions later in the draft.

Yeah, I agree with those who have said that Matthews isn't the answer at QB. Neil O'Donnell would have been a better choice for our backup. If anything, we should have brought back Rob Johnson. If Bledsoe got hurt, you know--you just know--that Johnson would have come in and given us a spark. The defense would have been expecting an immobile, sack-prone QB. While Johnson is certainly sack-prone, he's a lot more mobile than Bledsoe. Johnson would have played well enough to create a QB controversy. Once Losman got healthy, the QB controversy would have become a three-way contest. The last time we had a QB controversy, we went to the playoffs for two years straight. Maybe a QB controversy is just what this team needs.

Great post, Fake Fat. I don't agree with everything you wrote (I believe the Patriots got the better of the deal) but I liked your post even so.

In my book, the hallmark of a top-quality running back is to run the ball successfully when the defense knows it's coming. With KG as his offensive coordinator, the defense never had a reason to expect the run, so Travis never had the chance to prove whether he could be the type of back who could take control of the game. This year the play calling has been more run-oriented, so a talented back could take control of the game. Travis hasn't. In the past, things were all set up for Travis to look good without being the centerpiece of the offense. The offensive line was better at run blocking than pass protection. The offensive coordinator seldom called running plays, so defenses defended the pass first. Even Antowain Smith had success in this style of offense. Antowain Smith, for crying out loud. As for why Miami never had success running the ball when Marino was the QB: it was because their RBs were an absolute joke, and because their OL couldn't run block. Travis wasn't a terrible back. But neither was he a particularly good back.

See? We did well by getting rid of him! Now let's get rid of him again, this time by taking down his mementos.

Maybe you're right. Or maybe it's a woman voting for him based on . . . something other than insightful football knowledge.

I have to admit, that if I could fix one thing about this team, it would be the offensive line.

Amazingly, someone raised a serious point in this thread. He wrote that cats cause SIDS by sleeping on top of babies' faces, thereby killing them. The implication was that this was a deliberate attempt at murder. This point is half right. Cats are willing to sleep on people's faces, and should never be allowed near a baby without adult supervision. However, it's mistaken to believe that cats are trying to kill anyone. If you've watched kittens interact with each other, you'll sometimes see them sleeping on top of each other (including faces), with no visible harm to the kittens underneath. This is because cats' faces are shaped in such a way that they don't suffocate when another cat sleeps on them. When my sister was a teenager, our cat once slept on her face. When I was an adult, the cat did the same thing to me. Was the cat trying to kill my sister and me? I hardly think so: you can tell how a cat feels about you, and this cat was quite affectionate and loving towards us. The cat meant us no harm; but she didn't happen to understand the fact that having someone sleep on your face is more unpleasant/suffocating for a human than a cat. If cats wanted to kill babies, they would use their teeth and claws to do so; because that's how cats kill. I've never seen or heard of a cat seriously biting or scratching a baby. I've never heard of a cat exhibiting hostility towards a baby (for instance, by hissing, growling, etc.) then sleeping on the baby's face.

My original post was intended more as humor than as a realistic suggestion about what the Bills should do at QB. Though they could (and are) doing worse than having Neil O'Donnell at QB.

Henry plays the game with a lot of heart. So does Joe Burns. While Henry has been here, our o-line has generally been a bunch of fat guys who at least knew how to run block. While Travis has been in Buffalo, he's been a top-15 back, but not a top-10 back. He's good enough to make the running game respectable, but not good enough to make it feared.

Thanks!

I was saying that Henry was overrated before the start of this season. With KG as your offensive coordinator, there is no such thing as an obvious running down.

Over the last several years, Henry has had pretty good success running the ball. But that's because with KG as our offensive coordinator, defenses were expecting us to pass. Also, if it's 2nd and 15 because of some sack, then defenses know we have to pass successfully on one of the next two downs to get a first down. So why defend the run? Against Miami, McGahee rammed the ball down the throats of a good defense when they knew it was coming. The only time that Travis has rammed anything down someone's throat when they knew it was coming was his rendezvous with a 15-year-old.

Something I forgot to add above: the QB should have the same leadership abilities as . . . well you get the idea.

It's going to be a few weeks before Losman is ready, and in the meantime it would be nice to make a change at QB. If we cut Drew now, we could take the salary cap for that signing bonus this year so we'd be free and clear next year. But you can't go into a game with just Shane Matthews at QB. You need someone else. Someone who has Neil O'Donnell's ability to avoid key mistakes. But you also need to get the guy at as cap-friendly a figure as Neil O'Donnell would represent. He should be a proven veteran who has Neil O'Donnell's ability to pick up the offense quickly. He should be able to manage the game as well as Neil O'Donnell. He should also be able to open the offense up the way Neil O'Donnell can. The purpose of this post is just to mention general qualifications for QB, not to talk about any names in particular. Names like Neil O'Donnell. TD should choose the best QB for the team over the next few weeks, even if it means bringing a player out of retirement. He should carefully consider all his options at QB, beginning with Neil O'Donnell.

I like cats myself, because they are independent, and each has his or her own personality. If you want to control everything around you you won't like cats, but then again you wouldn't like me either.

Travis has been a decent back the last few years, but I haven't seen him really take control of a game when the defense was defending against the run. Over the last few years we've passed a lot more than we've run, leading defenses to defend against our pass first. This year is different, because we are now a running team. Teams are stacking the line against the run, and Willis has handled the situation better than Travis has.

I haven't heard that McKinnie is exactly lighting the world on fire. We could have traded down, though, because there were teams that wanted that CB that San Diego picked #5 overall.

Right now, Bledsoe is a below-average QB, but there are worse starters out there. Granted, his play against Baltimore was terrible, but he's had some decent--not great, but decent--games this year. The plan was to let Bledsoe manage the game, make a few big plays, and win by running the ball and playing defense. Against Jacksonville, New England, and the Jets, Bledsoe managed the game and made a few big plays. Problem was, we didn't run the ball well in those games, and our defense let us down. That said, I think we should focus on doing what we need to do to get Losman ready for that first snap of the 2005 season.

Starting Henry was a mistake, but Mularkey corrected it in the second half. That's the difference between Mularkey and Gregg Williams: Mularkey corrects his mistakes.

Maybe we should cut Bledsoe now to free up cap space for next year. This year, we'd be eating Bledsoe signing bonus instead of Bledsoe salary. Next year, we'd be free and clear. The problem is, who do you put in Bledsoe's place? You can't go into a game with your only healthy QB as Shane Matthews.

Don't ask questions like this. If you do, Bledsoe will get injured/benched, and we'll find out exactly how much worse our QB position can really be!! Though I have to admit that if Bledsoe and Johnson were both on the roster, I'd start Johnson.

I'm not sure that Mularkey is to blame for these problems. Our starting OLG couldn't even make Baltimore's roster. Our ORT is a joke. We don't have all the talent in the world at center. Our QBs consist of Bledsoe, a journeyman, and a rookie with a broken leg. Except for Milloy, we don't really have any safeties. What exactly do you expect a rookie head coach to accomplish with a roster like this?

Since he was running for his life in college, he'll feel right at home here in Buffalo.

We are on pace to score fewer rushing touchdowns for the entire season than they scored in just one game.