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merlin

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Posts posted by merlin

  1. We're 5-1, beating some of the league's best teams and playing a divisional game. The trap is eliminated & we swept the past 2 years with a less talent team that was basically unable to execute consistently, so now we are picked to lose by some??

     

     

    I think it hinges on which version of the Bills D shows up. I think Trent & company will manage their usual game, probably can score 23 - 27 points or so. The question is, can the D hold Pennington & company to less than that? They should have had enough film of the "Wildcat" formation to be able to handle that, but if Pennington has time to throw, he'll pick us apart - just like Warner, and for most of the game, Rivers.

     

    GO BILLS!

  2. In no way am I defending Mortensen, but this could be one of those "bad" losses that the Bills don't see coming. To me, Miami is an enigma right now...you just don't know which team will show up from week to week.

     

     

    I agree, but the same is true of the Bills D. If Pennington has as much time to survey the field as Warner and Rivers had most of the last 2 games, he'll pick us apart. Hopefully Perry has had some time to figure out what we need to do to get more pressure on the QB. He might feel comfortable calling more blitz packages now that McGee is back.

     

    GO BILLS!

  3. There are 2 articles about yesterday's game (linked on TBD), I think both from the Buffalo News, that differ in pointing out which special teams player was the one called from the illegal block that caused one of Roscoe's 30+ yard punt returns to get called back.

     

    Was it Whitner or Ellison?

     

    Just curious. The article that mentioned Whitner said it was a pretty questionable call. That's why I wondered if maybe it wasn't even his block that was called. In any case, glad it didn't wind up costing the Bills in the end.

     

    GO BILLS!

  4. INDIANAPOLIS - Indianapolis Colts starting defensive tackle Ed Johnson was arrested early Wednesday on a drug possession charge.

     

    Colts president Bill Polian said the team was still gathering facts about the case before determining how it will discipline Johnson, but Johnson will not play Sunday at Minnesota.

     

    Apparently it didn't take them long to gather the rest of the facts and make a decision. Bill Polian released a statement this afternoon stating that the club has decided to waive Ed Johnson.

    "In this particular case, Ed was well aware that his past history required him to be in complete compliance with club rules," Polian said.

     

    Polian said Johnson was repeatedly told that during the offseason, and was reminded as recently as Tuesday of coach Tony Dungy's rules of behavior.

     

    "Unfortunately, he chose to violate those rules," Polian said.

     

    I have to give Polian, Dungy, and the Colts organization credit - they really have followed through on their commitment to build a team of "high character players". This move will really hurt them this year. Johnson was by far and away their best DT, and they will now be left scrambling to try and fill that void. They were gashed by Chicago's running game this past Sunday, and their next 2 opponents are Minnesota and Jacksonville. I think there are many teams who would have had a hard time just cutting someone like that. They are doing more than just "talking the talk".

     

    There's been wide speculation that Johnson will just hop in his car and make the 90-minute trip to Cincinnati to find employment. :pirate:

  5. :thumbsup::lol::thumbsup: :thumbsup:

     

     

    Chad looking for special chemistry with Tom

     

     

    “Yeah, there’s a lot of pressure on me because as a young receiver you’ve got a lot of the older guys, veterans who’ve been doing it a few years, and doing it with Tom,” Jackson said yesterday. “It would be a great deal if I could get on the same page with Tom, a great opportunity for me to be like the other guys.”

     

    Thus far, Jackson has been working the room, so to speak, getting time with all the other quarterbacks. He didn’t hide from assessing what he’s shown.

     

    “I’ve had some ups and I’ve had some downs, and I had an up last week,”

     

    ....

     

    As Jackson has found out the hard way, it’s one thing to have great speed and hands - it’s another to have that special chemistry with Brady.

  6. Indy Dave, maybe you can refute or corroborate this. I've spent considerable time in Indianapolis. My sense is that it will always be a basketball city. The moment that the Colts suffer any type of lapse in their successful run (likely the day after Manning retires), they will find it impossible to fill that stadium, and, in all likelihood, will be moved to another city.

     

    Winning, of course, sells seats anywhere. But the long-term committment to that team by its fans pales in comparison to Pacers/ IU Hoops support.

     

    I've lived in Indianapolis since 1978. I think your perception of it being a "basketball state" was probably correct until recent years. It's still crazy about high school basketball, and the IU and Purdue college basketball programs have a lot of support (we'll see what happens at IU now that Kelvin Sampson was fired amid recruiting scandals, and the NCAA may impose more sanctions on top of the self-imposed ones IU is already under). But the Pacers NBA team has had a real falling off in recent years. The incident with the "brawl" in Detroit a few years ago started it, and there have been so many other off-court incidents with other players (fights, guns, DUI, drugs, "bad associates", etc), that they didn't even sell out their home play-off games a couple years ago (and failed to make the playoffs this past season for the first time in about 10 years). That coupled with Colts' amazing and consistent success, and the great "community image" the team has, starting with Manning and Dungy, has really left professional basketball as an "after thought" in this state, and to some extent, college basketball as well. There was lots of angst over the money spent for the new stadium, but when it came down to it, keeping the Colts was seen as a priority. If the Pacers were to face the same sort of public referendum today, I think they'd be headed to Seattle!

     

    The Colts also have an owner in Jim Irsay who seems as truly committed to keeping the team here as Ralph does there in Buffalo ... but Jim is considerably younger. Irsay may be trying to "live down" his father's image, but he had many opportunities to either move the team to a larger market, or at least use that possibility as a "threat" to get the city/state to give him the new stadium, but by all public accounts, he never did that.

     

     

    GO BILLS!

  7. Sorry, but I'm just watching the Browns - Lions replay on NFL Network - yes, I actually watch replays of these preseason games - and they had a live check in with Faulk, Sharpe and Deion from the upcoming Bills / Colts game tomorrow, and Faulk was asked something about keys for the Bills (I missed the exact question) but from his answer, apparently we have a new player named Paul Poshsutzky who is important for us.

     

    I haven't heard of this guy, is he new?

     

    :)

     

    Just found the vido on NFL.com ... I think he's saying "Paul PuzNUTsky ..." :(

     

    Bills/Colts Preview on NFL.com

  8. To me, this proves this holdout worked as expected, although we won't know that until after the numbers all come out, and if Jackson was very happy with the result. ...

     

    Of course, the Jackson case is more like Lee Evans', since he is also in the last year of his rookie contract. I'm sure the Rams really wanted to get him signed to an extension to keep him from hitting the open market next year, so this is in their best interest as well. Unfortunately for Jason Peters, it's probably not in the Bills' best interest, financially, to re-do a contract that still has 3 years remaining.

  9. I agree the Evans deal will be done first (which might not be too far off)

     

    But I disagree about him not getting a new deal this year......the lines drawn in the sand were....

     

    - Bills....no deal while not in camp

     

    - Peters.....not reporting without a new deal

     

    If Peters reports then the bills have a "victory" and dont look like they backed down in contract negotiations....BUT did do the right thing and paid a player worthy of a new contract

     

    Agents and players are out there watching

     

    I hope you are correct, but I just read the following in one of Clark Judge's articles from Bills' camp (linked from TBD front page):

    "Peters has three years left on his deal, and the Bills aren't willing to talk until he shows up for work -- and then they made it clear they will not renegotiate his 2008 deal. I think you can see why we have an impasse. "

     

    linky - Buffalo Bills Camp Report

     

    This makes it sound like the Bills will insist Peters play the 2008 season under the current deal, though they may be willing to talk about re-doing/extending his contract for AFTER this season. I really think this is the only thing that makes any sense as to why Peters hasn't shown up yet. If he really believed he could have gotten a new deal done for this year, he would have been here. I think he knew from the start that wasn't going to happen, so he decided the only way he had to "protest" that decision was to sit out of training camp as long as possible, and just come back in time for the regular season.

     

    Of course, who knows how accurate Clark's information is.

  10. free agent to be julius pepper.....with peppers schobel and stroud on the line it would but an instant shot in the arm for a pash rush and would make our back 7 that much better.....other than our own free agents(Freddie jackson,greer,crowell,evans) this is the one i think the bills should really go for and focus on tightend and linebacker in the draft.......any thoughts??

     

    If Julius Peppers comes back this season and plays anywhere close to the level he did his first couple of years in the league, I can't imagine the Panthers will let him hit the free-agent market. They'll either sign him to an extension, or the very least, slap the franchise tag on him.

  11. Regardless of which Irsay hired Polian, neither one has harbored the animosity that Ralph held against BP. If only Littman hadn't carried more favor with RW than he should have.

     

    I don't think there's a better GM/President in the league than Polian. He succeeded before and after the cap has been in effect. No executive type can demonstrate anything close to that.

     

    Of late, he's set his sights on the out of control rookie first round salaries and appears to be the one pushing Goodell the hardest on this issue.

     

    ROBERT Irsay, the original owner, would NEVER have hired BP in the first place. He was one of the most meddlesome owners in the history of the league. He'd call the coach from his suite to call plays, or demand someone be benched, etc, in the middle of a game. His son JIM (the current owner) used to have to go around apologizing to players, coaches, administrators, etc, for his Dad's erratic behavior (he once fired a coach after a pre-season game loss). Jim Irsay is the exact opposite of his Dad.

     

    Also, curious as to whether anyone remembers why Carolina let BP go? He certainly was successful there as well (NFC Championship game in just the 2nd year of the franchise). Must have been more to that story. BP is a genius when it comes to evaluating talent - he just lacks some "people skills".

     

    He's got the perfect setup in Indianapolis - ego-less owner AND coach, who know what they have in BP, and are content to let him "buy the groceries". He never would have been able to co-exist with an owner like Jerry Jones, or coaches like Bill Parcells, Bill Cowher, Belicheat, etc. And maybe BP has "grown up" (matured) since his stint in Buffalo, and learned some things from his experiences in Buffalo and Carolina. Who knows? But I certainly wouldn't blame his leaving entirely on RW - just as Butler's leaving wasn't totally in Ralph's control, either.

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