Estro

I watch college football a little here and there when there's a good game on. Nothing like the NFL, but enough to watch certain players and wonder where they'll stack up in the NFL. So the past few weeks the guy that has really caught my eye is Golden Tate, the WR from Notre Dame. I have to admit I don't know much about him other than what I've seen this season. His size looks a bit small by NFL standards, but his hands are unbelievably good. He also has a tendency to keep the ball away from his body when he catches it, which seems odd, but looks very impressive nonetheless. Is there anyone out there who knows where he stacks up as a pro prospect? With his strong hands it seems to me a team like the Bills, who play a lot of games in inclement weather would really value a receiver like that. If you haven't watched him play yet, check out ND"s future games, #23. He's a junior, I believe, but if he contines to play like what I've seen, he will be in next years' draft, especially if Clausen leaves.

No doubt, I was thinking the exact same thing myself earlier today. I don't know how to do a search either, but I bet you it would be the first time ever the same team has had the same losing record 4 straight seasons. It certainly would be a fitting accomplishment for Dick Juaron and define everything he is as a head coach. Let's just hope that 7-9 isn't enough to appease Ralph and force us to live with clear mediocrity for another year. I have the feeling that we get stuck with the same old if we do finish 7-9, especially if we win vs. the Colts (who will probably be sitting Manning in week 17). Let's not forget that our win in week 16 @ Denver last season, supposedly went a long way in Ralph's decision to retain Dick. If there is anything I have learned over the last 10 years being a Bills fan it's this; Ralph Wilson has no problem with losing and perennial mediocrity. Can you imagine successfully missing the playoffs 10 straight seasons in a league where the salary cap enables parity amongst all teams. Just to break that down, each team has a 6/16 chance of making the playoffs at the start of every season, which is a 37.5% chance. In other words, the Bills have somehow managed to steer clear of that 37.5% chance 10 consecutive times. This clearly shows there is something very wrong with the Bills front office, and mainly Ralph Wilson. His hirings/firings and total mismanagement of the team the past decade is frightening, and that is a whole other conversation.

I raised a similar point in response to another thread. There's no way the offense would look any worse under Turk that's for sure. I don't think anyone would disagree with the fact that are offense while not good looked a whole lot better in 2008. Receiver and Tight ends were set in motion and Edwards, believe it or not, was throwing the 10-20 yard passes across the middle. This year it's like Edwards doesn't even look to attack the middle of the field. Something has happened, and I think the Bills have realized their starting QB isn't really a "starting" QB so they have dumbed down the offense to a point of horror (from a fans standpoint). I actually don't have that much faith in Fitz, but I do think he will make our offense at least marginally better because he will throw the middle slants and the inside throws upfield to the TE's that Trent refused to look for. He also carries out the play action fake way better than Edwards and hopefully our coaching staff realizes this and runs them when the opportunities present themselves. At the very least Fitz will keep defenses guessing run or pass which will open up the run and pass game.

Owens basically said the same thing in his Wednesday press conference. Asked if teams are defending him differently this season Owens said (and I'm paraphrasing here) "No same coverages I've seen in the past, but in the past our offenses were able to move me around and do some things to get me open and make plays but this is a different offense and we don't do that." I think when it comes down to it our offensive coaching staff is just plain BAD. Not that I was a big fan of Schonert, but I think our offfense looked a hell of a lot better last year than it currently does this season. And one would think that the offense should've been better this season with the addition of Owens.

I'm still waiting to hear the status of Kyle Williams availability for this weekend. Without him our defense is in trouble, as McCargo and Spencer Johnson are both big downgrades. The upside is if Fitzpatrick starts he gives our offense a much much much better chance than if Edwards were in there, despite what some others on this board think. Fitzpatrick in my books is a below average QB with many limitations which is why he's a backup, but below average is way better than Trent Edwards so I'll take it. I think this game will probably be a very close one that is won in the 4th quarter. Field position will play a huge part as will penalties. If we can limit the penalties and play 2008 speacial teams I think we have a good chance at winning. Ultimately I see the Bills playing too conservative a style of offense, missing a lot of chances to take the lead (playing Dick ball) and losing by 4. BTW there is still no line up for the Bills Panthers game due to the fact that no one knows whos starting for the Bills. Based off of betting line trends though the Bills will come in right around +3, regardless of who starts.

Of the college football I've watched this season the only QB that impresses me is ND's QB Clausen. Laat year I was actually unimpressed with him, but this year he's caught my eye. Watched him make a lot of plays vs. Michigan and vs. USC. Keeps his eyes downfield, strong arm, decent accuracy, good pocket presence and runs what the experts call a pro style offense. Meaning he actually takes a good number of snaps from under center unlike Bradford. Even though Clausen is yet another Cali kid he seems pretty durable too. Not sure if he will declare in this years' draft, but if he does I think he's the #1 QB given Bradford's inability to stay healthy. For the Bills to have a shot at Clausen they'd realistically need to finish with 3 wins or less and at this point I see the Bills being in the 5 to 6 win range, so we probably won't have a shot at him. On a side note, other than Clausen, there is no QB I'd want the Bills to touch in the first 2 rounds (outside of Bradford, who Iim not that high on.) Weak QB class this year, IMO. I'm all for an OL or DT if we can't get Clausen, preferrably a DT. We really need to get stronger up front. Brandon Spikes (Florida) would also be a nice LB for the Bills. One things for sure, I would not draft for our secondary. Our secondary is deep and decent especailly when everyone is healthy. No to Cb's and S's in the 1st and 2nd round!

That is where the problem lies. If you were a GM how could you jusitfy giving up anything for Roscoe Parrish. He's shown nothing as a receiver and appears to be shot as a return man. Maybe a new atmosphere is exactly what Roscoe needs to revitalize his career. I for one though, would be shocked if anybody would trade us anything for him at this point. After all even 7th rounders can become Marques Colston's in this league.

Go rewatch the Packers Vikings Monday Night game from a couple weeks back. You'll see a QB who with no run game, an above average amount of penalties going against him, and a terrible offensive line (sacked 8 times that game) continue to keep his eyes downfield and make plays. In fact as poorly as his team played that day he had his team in the game late in the game and that was against a Vikings team that night that played lights out. Like the other poster suggested, a good QB makes plays despite the limitations surrounding him. Theres no argument that the rest of our offense has struggled, but Edwards IMO is the biggest problem of all.

Don't forget too the offense may haven taken 60-70 snaps, but Trent had 31 pass attempts. So it's not like 3/31 is by any means a tiny percentage. and liek I said there mere multiple other times when Edwards missed guys who were open downfield. I'd say it was probably closer to 6-8 plays where he blatantly missed open guys.

I was at the game and saw the same thing they showed on film multiple times every single quarter. The 3 plays they featured on the show were not the only 3 plays Edwards missed guys downfield, believe me, I saw it with my own eyes. For arguments sake though, even if it was only though 3 plays (all 3rd down plays) that's reason enough for complaint. If he converts 2 of those 3 to wide open receivers downfield that extends 2 of our offensive drives. Right there alone your looking at a 5 minute swing of possession at a minimum betwwen the bills and Browns.

What happens? What happens is I wake up and realize it was a dream. Then I turn on the t.v. and see the Bills are down 20-6 to the Jets at the start of the 4th quarter. First play of the 4th quarter Bills jump offsides, the camera scans to the Bills sideline, Dick Juaron can be seen with an emotionless face just clapping.

For those of you who have NFLN, I wanted to see if anyone else watched AFC playbook this week? Not that it came as any surprise to me, since I was at the game last week, but Trent Edwards is 95% of the problem with this offense, no question. I know a lot of people around here blame the penalties, the coaching, the offensive line.......rightfully so to a degree, but Edwards has totally lost his confidence to throw the ball downfield. Of the three plays they dissected of Edwards vs. the Browns he had wide open men downfield for first downs and never once did he even look at the receivers. In each of the 3 plays the pocket was also clean with a slight push coming from the middle (Shaun Rogers). This is Edwards biggest problem....the inability to slide and move within the pocket. Watch any of the upper-tier QB's and the first thing you'll notice is they all have pocket presence, the ability to step up or slide in the pocket. It helps to have a great offensive line, which the Bills don't, but I've seen plenty of plays where our line has given Trent enough time yet he still lets the pressure get to him due to his inability to slide in the pocket. Early in his career Trent surprisingly handled the blitz well, think back to the Ravens game of 2007 and the Chargers game of 2008. The difference then was teams did not have film on Edwards and were blitzing heavily from the edges so Edwards was able to keep his eyes downfield and deliver the ball. Once teams began blitzing up the middle they realized Trent wasn't nearly as effective. (No surprise our coaches still haven't come up with a conclusion on how to beat this, but that's another story entirely.) As soon as Trent feels the heat up the middle he immediately takes his eyes off the downfield receivers and looks to dump it off. What's worse is he doesn't possess the ability to step up or slide away from pressure, but instead runs toward the sideline like a chicken with his head cut off. This move eliminates one half of the field and because Trent is very inaccurate on the run, it usually eliminates any ability to complete a pass. If it were last year I could at least hold out hope and believe he will improve or be taught how to effectively stand in the pocket and deliver the football downfield, unfortunately after 2 seasons it's getting worse. For anyone who didn't see the show, try and watch the segment. It's so discouraging to see slow- mo film of wide open receivers and tight ends downfield only to watch Edwards throw lateral 2 yard outs to our outlet receivers. Now I know why Alex Van Pelt is still chiming in with "we'll have to simplify the offense further". It's because Trent is holding this offense way way way back and apparently the coaches think the only way to help him is to dumby down an already dumbed down offense. What does that tell you about our QB. Pretty frightening. Lastly, for anyone who thinks Hamdan or Fitzgerald wouldn't give us a better shot at winning you're nuts. I would've thought I was nuts for making that statement a month ago too, but sadly it's true. After watching Edwards, in person, 3 games this season I've seen enough to know he doesn't deserve to be anywhere near a starting QB job in this league. Hammy or Fitzy may not have as good of arm strength or accuracy, but what good is that when you refuse to throw beyond 8 yards unless you're throwing the sideline bomb (which you complete at about a 12% rate). If Hamdan or Fitz played last week, we win the game. Hoping to be at least entertained tomorrow, but I'm expecting more of the same out of Edwards. The past is the best predictor of the future and our future with Edwards at the helm is well.........SCARY.

Not as bad as I would've expected actually. A lot better than the XFL that's for sure. This league has potential as a develpoment league for the NFL IMO. I think the outlook is to get about 8-12 teams which I think would work fine. They just need to work on getting people in the stands because it'll never last at this rate.

Definitely some talent we missed on, but if you look at that first round as a whole it's pretty bad. Tons of busts and players who made very little impact in the league on that list.

Another note to add: Has anyone seen Trent's playaction? If not, it's absolutely abysmal. It's so bad that you actually know that he's going to pass as he's trying to sell the fake. I've noticed our team the past 2-3 years has done a horrible job selling the playaction so I pin that one on the coaching staff just as much as I do on Trent. Boy does this team just need to be blown up.

Good point. Last year when we sent Reed in motion we always ran to the side he was motioning too. Maybe the Bills realized this so they decided maybe it's just better to not motion at all.

"Dude you need to eat more"

Spot on and 100% accurate. Trent's decision is made up pre snap. There is 0 risk taking or ability to throw to the deeper route. If 2 receivers are open and one is 6 yards downfield and the other is 16 yards downfield, Trent is going with the safer 6 yard throw. NOW is that his own tendency or has he been coached to play this way (by the ultra conservative Juaron), we will certainly never know the answer, but I'm sure it's probably a combination of the two. I've watched live from the stands during the first 2 home games Trent choose the wide open 5 yard route over the 20 yard down the field pass that is also wide open. Last week I saw T.O. open on more than several occasions most the time past 10-15 yards and every time Trent not only didn't throw to him, but didn't even look at that vicinity of the field. Guy has no ability to pressure a defense. That's why many times I'm actually pissed off after a 7 yard complete pass to a TE or RB or Josh Reed across the middle, and it's because I see T.O. or Lee Evans wide open an additional 10-20 yards down the field. Trent's passes between 10-30 yards have been nearly non-existent this year which is a frightening fact for a NFL starting QB.

This is why drafting Leodis with the #11 overall pick and letting Jabari walk the very next season was very foolish. Leodis signed a 5 year $19.4 million with $12.6 million guarenteed, while Jabari got 4 years $23 million with roughly $10 million guarenteed. Similar contracts espcially when you consider Jabari's guarenteed money. I don't understand the Bills thinking in not locking Greer up and using the #11 pick on another area of weakness. Some fans will say, "yeah but we didn't know if greer was good when we drafted Leodis", but that is simply not true. The guy had obvious playmaking ability and starter potential and that was obvious. So who would you rather have Greer and the #11 pick to use on someone else or Leodis McKelvin?

Your right the offense looked terrible, most of which was Trent's inabiltity to throw the ball downfield, but who cares. You need two scores in 7 minutes, any sane fan would rather see their team go for it on 4th and 1 down 10 then punt. Dick is playing to keep games close in order to save his job, the guy has been and always will be an absolute joke as a head coach. Nice and respectful guy, terrible coach. And to answer the question, yes I would've been happier. At least then I know our coach has his head on his shoulders and understands you play to win.

Why is so one negative? Do you really need an answer to that question. Take a look at the previous 9 seasons plus the 1st 3 games of this season and you'll have a pretty good reason why most fans are disgusted with what's going on

Which after the Browns game I probably will do. Still want to see the Browns game as the weather will be tolerable, but after that who knows. It's tough to travel 8 hours one way and drop in the vicinity of $300-500 for a weekend to watch what I witnessed this past Sunday. Week 3 in the books and I'm already thinking our games by week 8 will be pretty meaningless, this franchise at this point is a downright embarrasment. Thanks for punting on 4th and 1 too Dick, that made my 8 hour drive home all the better.

The guy who sits 3 rows behind me who constantly yells "hey sit down, down in front, sit down a**hole". Guy would rather whine all game about everybody standing up than just standing up and watching/supporting the team. And believe me, I'm not going to sit down because everybody in front of me is standing, and I don't travel all the way to B-Lo to watch someones back. Aggravating as hell, much like the Bills/trent Edwars play lately. Also a little off topic but did anybody else feel like they were watching Trent Edwards playing for the Panthers tonight?

My guess is McGee has the same thing going on that he did last week. He will probably start, but I'm starting to get worried that this injury will only get worse as the season progresses. McGee is one guy the Bills D can not afford to lose, really hope he gets healthy.

I pay very close attention to the draft and he too was someone I was hoping to see drafted by Buffalo. I'm actually pretty happy with this signing. Sounds like an athletic dude, which is exactly what we need.