ChasBB

Jim Kelly had 26 300-yard passing games during the regular season and 3 more in the playoffs. Trent Edwards has not had a single 300-yard passing game. That is pretty telling. I've always liked Edwards, too, and have strongly supported him in the past. I also understand that Edwards is just not the same type of QB that Kelly was and is not just going to sling it out there as much, but nevertheless, this is a pretty sad statistic for Edwards. It's the type of statistic that could easily be overlooked if the Bills were routinely winning football games, but they are not nor have they been for a very long time. With all of the weapons on this team, there is just no excuse for this. Edwards is just not getting the job done.

you beat me to it, but my post wasn't going to be nearly so lengthy. Fact is the Saints have been gifted many turnovers to rack up the points. I'm sure they are good and deserve attention, but let's not make them out to be world champs just yet because they are not. The Bills should win this game.

They can put Buffalo at 32 if they want. I don't really care. I like this team. The bottom line is that UNTIL this team beats a few DIVISION opponents, they won't get much respect. Moral victories don't count in this business -- it's about WINS and until Buffalo can prove that it can beat the Patriots, the Jets, or even the Dolphins, respect will not be forthcoming. 0-6 in the division last year says it all. This is a new year and I do not believe that will be repeated, but until Buffalo walks off the field with a win against a division opponent, it's status quo.

If he's only half as tough as Hostetler, he's a keeper.

I could easily have seen Trent & co. picking up a 1st down. Wish they had the opportunity.

The problem is simply that we are bonded with this team. The bond is so #%$@ tight that when they fail, it literally causes us pain. Pathetic? Yes, but understandable. I think it was probably 1967 and I was 6 years old when my Dad brought me to my first Bills game at War Memorial Stadium. I remember him holding my hand as we walked though the tunnel to the seats and suddenly a whole new world opened up -- it was sunny and the grass was such bright green (must have been an early season game), sharp lines on the field, bright goal posts, colorful uniforms, the smell of cigar smoke, the smell of hot dogs, the crowd -- it was really an awesome experience for a 6-year old. And that's how it starts. It is almost like religion. We are baptized in the spirit of the Buffalo Bills and the bond lives on forever. My Dad died when I was 8 and I don't have a whole lot of childhood memories of him, but this was one of them. Is it foolish to be a die-hard fan of the Buffalo Bills when there are so many more important and useful endeavors in life? Perhaps, but that doesn't make it any less real for us. Go Bills!

Yes, see my post above about this game. Thanks for saying Pat Toomay -- I couldn't remember who recovered the fumble. I just know that it would have been a likely Bills win if the refs made the correct call.

OK, I'm going WAY back here, but does anyone remember this one? Oct. 22, 1972 (Miami's $#%@*&$ "perfect" season) Buffalo at Miami in the Orange Bowl Final score: Miami 24 Buffalo 23 Buffalo was down 24-16 and scored late in the 4th to draw within a point. Now, I may have events out of sequence, but I think what happened next is that Miami got the ball back and on that drive Mercury Morris appeared to have fumbled and Buffalo recovered. However, he was ruled down by contact. The replays clearly showed the ball coming loose just before he hit the ground. If Buffalo had gotten the ball back, they could have possibly nailed a game-winning field goal -- no perfect season -- no 0 for 20 in the '70's against the Fish. Instead, Miami runs out the clock. Again, I may be off a little on the sequencing, but that's how I remember it. I mainly remember that bad call and I'm pretty certain it was on the final drive, but whenever it was it was costly to the outcome of the game.

Agree -- that was a very good team.

I remember attending a game against the Baltimore Colts (late 70's I think). If memory serves, Buffalo was up 28-0 at halftime. Buffalo lost the game. They simply could not stop Bert Jones in the second half. The colts kept running this same screen play over-and-over again and Buffalo could not stop it. Unreal. I think Bills lost 35-28 or something like that.

Agree, if the Bills can play the Belichick-coached Patriots to near certain victory, there is NO team they can't compete with and defeat. This team should feel good about its direction. Furthermore, this sets up one hell of a rematch at the Ralph later this season!!

It comes and goes. They were saying the same stuff about Jim Kelly and the Buffalo Bills in the early 90's -- how Kelly could always manage to pull out a victory from seemingly obvious defeat. This team WANTS to win. I think that is clear. Edwards clearly is aiming for the playoffs. Yes, they still need to prove it by actually winning games and winning close games, too -- and they will I think this year. I think this is the year that the team develops a winning culture.

As always, enjoy your assessment of the game. My only comment is that I think it is a rush to judgment on Bell. True, he had a horrible game, but let's just see how he develops over the 1st half of the season. Obviously the coaching staff saw enough in him to move forward with him. Furthermore, we don't really know just how well his back is healed. Perhaps it is not as far along as said. It was his very 1st NFL start and against no less than the Patriots in a hostile environment. I think it's too early to write Bell off.

The moral victory is not very satisfying right now, but this game gives me hope for this season. The Patriots remind me of the Super Bowl years with the Bills. When the Bills were down, you just knew they'd find a way to pull it out. Well, the fumble really was a gift to the Patriots, but you have to give the Bills coaching staff some credit for playing a competitive game that they really ought to have won. But, like some of the other posters here, the moral victory just SUCKS right now. I'm tired of losing to that team.

Peters is gone. Get over it. Agree that this is an absolutely useless thread. Furthermore, it doesn't matter a damn what he is doing or will do for Philly. He damn sure was NOT going to give BUFFALO that level of effort, so it is absolutely pointless to say "we could have had him at LT if only ...". He wouldn't have been the same player for us as for them. I'm glad he's gone. Bell will make some youthful mistakes, but I highly doubt anyone will have opportunity to question his effort. This team needs fighters who want to win and that's what they have in Bell.

That's the ticket right there. Hit him high, hit him low, hit him while he's up, hit him while he's down. Smack him around like a %#*$@%$ ragdoll. Make him fear for his life instead of only worrying about which receiver he's going to throw to. That's the key to this game right there.

Good links -- I liked the 1st one about Shipp in particular. Love him or hate him, the guy is hands-down the best coach in the NFL today. The Bills coaching staff needs to really study this guy. I mean seriously STUDY his success -- Belichick 101 -- meet 3 times per week in the offseason to study his approach to the game, study how he game plans for various opponents. The only way to beat Belichick is to truly understand how he thinks. No one has really been able to do that. Of course, the other approach is to beat the hell out of the Patriots in a highly physical smash-mouth game. However, both a smart and physical approach would sure be nice to see.

The guy gets a 49 million dollar contract with an 18 million dollar signing bonus and his heart wasn't into it??!!!!! The guy needs to be taken out to the woodshed.

Agree, can't see things getting any worse. AVP could be exactly what they need. We'll just have to wait and see.

Turk Schonert quote upon taking over as the new offensive coordinator: "The offense will be different," Schonert told Buffalobills.com. "It will be different. And I'm going to put my stamp on it. It's going to be our offense, not my offense. I want to get the coaches involved. I like having the players involved and their input." (http://assets.buffalobills.com/news/news.jsp?news_id=5809) Alex Van Pelt quote upong taking over as the new offensive coordinator: “Talking to them (Sunday) I want them to be open with me and communicate back with us as a staff with what they like and what they don’t like. I think the biggest thing is making them feel comfortable with what we’re going to call and why we’re going to call it. And I think if they feel good about it then they’ll go out and execute.” (http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-3/Van-Pelt-ready-to-assume-command/e644e357-03ac-4788-b480-0694402d8f49) Clearly, Schonert was feeding us all a line of BS with his quote. Hopefully, AVP is telling the truth (and I believe AVP is going to deliver on his promise to open up communication), but it is interesting to compare quotes. They can all say what they want to say or what sounds good, but they've got to deliver on their remarks.

However, if Rhodes is truly an integral part of their plans, then it is quite a risk to assume he'll clear waivers. It would seem there might be a number of teams that would like to have a veteran of his caliber on their roster. Guess we'll just see what happens.

I nominate this for post of the month (if there were such a thing here). Excellent.

One good thing is AVP has no track record. Belichick can't pull up a computer database with AVP's play-calling tendencies because he's never called plays in the NFL. I think this move makes the Bills less predictable and more exciting -- at least for a few games. The opening game just got a lot more interesting.

As per the press conference, it looks like this was 100% DJ's decision. I applaud him for taking this action. It must be very difficult for him to have to do this especially at this time, but I trust in his decision. This team has too much offensive talent to sit back and watch it go to waste. I don't know if AVP is the answer or not, but I think he could work out very well. Clearly, Turk wasn't getting it done.

Yeah, a couple weeks ago would have been nice, but I like this a helluva lot better than a couple more weeks into the future.