Cotton Fitzsimmons

These still frames of Stevie's catch were brought to YE OLE's attention... what do you guys think? http://www.thebillsblog.com/2011/10/stevie-johnson-catch-vs-bengals.html Just as a side note... it should have never come down to this one call. The Bills lost this game on several other levels. It's simply a closer look at this call, that was indeed pivotal in the game.

Spot on, my good man. Have the Bills gotten a few bounces? Sure. But they don't go 3-0 simply because of bounces. This team is definitely better. How much better depends on how they come out next week, and how they move forward. That will be the difference between 11-5/12-4 and a 7-9 collapse a la '08

Part of me wishes he would've signed Burnett... can you imagine the possibilities between Burnett and Sully?

While it's true that defense is in short supply so far this year across the league, it's especially disappointing that our unit isn't showing more improvement given all the attention spent on it this past offseason. For the most part, the offensive side of the ball was ignored in the offseason. With the investment spent on the defense, it's very disappointing to see them not be able to get off the field in those back to back scoring drives the Bengals put together to close out the game. They are getting turnovers, and up until yesterday the run defense looked improved. Although, they looked eerily similar to Bills teams of recent years the way Benson was gashing long runs at will yesterday.

THE SANCHIZE can't allow himself to get hit in that situation. He has to save his appearance for all those Pepsi Max endorsements.

We just got whipped today. The offense put up 13 points, and the defense could not get a stop on back to back scoring drives to end the game. The non catch call on Stevie was awful... and after review no explanation was even given. Ultimately though, a bad effort all the way around. Next week is going to be a huge test, they must step up and win against an Eagles team that is really up against it to save their season.

If you said after 4 weeks we'd be tied with the Pats with the head to head win and a game ahead of the Jets, we'd take it. Ironically, this game was probably the one we all saw as the most winnable.

Just gotta bounce back... 3-1 isn't so bad IF it ends there. This team is going to have a gut check next week for sure. We need to prove that we can get back on the right track. Even great teams lose games, but they rarely if ever lose 2 in a row.

Agreed... next week is going to tell a lot about this team. We've all said they've shown great character, and now next week they're going to have to come out swinging. If they come out and get a W next week, today can become just a bump in the road.

Gotta believe the CHAN MAN is going to give one those "That call was BS" answers without saying it so as not get fined. It was what it was... awful call, but there were other plays left on the field that should have been made and it wouldn't have come down to a blown call.

Agreed... it was a bad call, no doubt, but it shouldn't have come down to that. We needed to take care of business when the Bengals scored on their final 2 drives and couldn't get it done.

Good point... they probably have Dalton take the snap, run around for a few seconds, and take a knee.

It was beyond frustrating to see a rookie QB take this game away from us on those last 2 drives. We desperately needed to generate some heat up front, and just couldn't do it.

The fact that the tuck rule still exists seems idiotic to me. The way the rule is currently written, any QB could take a snap and immediately pump the ball in their drop back and be covered by the "tuck rule." There's no time restraint placed in the rule... pump the ball once and you fumble after that and it all goes back to the tuck regardless of the ongoing intent of the QB.

Bills 35 Bengals 13

It's hard to win games in the NFL.

YE OLE wondered what happened to all his cabbage.

Hard to believe we're 3-0 with nothing more than a backup QB under center, gents!

I like to defer... can't argue with the results thus far. But it gives you that extra possession once you get a feel for the game. I think it's more valuable than the possession to start the game.

It's ironic how much time, effort, and draft picks were put into the defensive side of the ball. We expected a huge improvement there, and to some extent we have been MUCH better with regard to run defense. But, the offense has shown the sort of leaps and bounds we expected to see on the other side of the ball. If this thing does get clicking on both sides of the ball, look out, gents!

Thanks for posting! Really good listen... very funny! Not the standard interview.

That new show on Vs. called "Turning Point" hosted by Dan Patrick is going to feature the Bills tonight. It's on at 11:30 PM ET. It's going to focus on the Bills snapping the Patriots 15 game winning streak last week. Should be a good time, gents! Channel 603 for DirecTV customers.

I think we need to get Fitz and Stevie signed ASAP. I believe they both want to be here, but if either of them gets a chance to test the market, we all know how that can end up. We can't afford to lose these guys. Freddie needs to get done, because it's the right thing to do, but not as pressing, because he is under contract. It will do wonders for the reputation of this franchise, however, to get these contracts done. Buffalo will begin to be a place everyone wants to play again.

YE OLE is a big fan of Moats. I'm very encouraged by him moving back to OLB. We desperately need to find some pass rush from somewhere. The young man showed promise last year, it just makes sense to see if he could build on it.

What was your take on this, Beer Sphere? Do you take the whole bicycle analogy at face value or do you think they're getting the feeling that Merriman just isn't ever going to be the same player?