Fake-Fat Sunny

You are right and I should have added that the point I was making which is relevant to the Bills is that no player has won an SB for the team which drafted him, In the Dilfer case and in other cases quality QBs are available on the waiver wire and drafting one and putting your team in hock does not seem to be a good strategy at all.

He seems easily as good as his contract numbers since other players making even more money have just as many limitations as he has. Schobel by almost all judgments has improved his game each year he has played. His own sack production and the team's statistical production for their D seen to reflect this. His first year he struck me as promising, but he seems to often take bad angles to tackle people, he seemed to lack strength in comparison to opposing blockers and he rarely commanded a double-team even when he was at the point of attack. However, by my observations, he at least doesn't get embarassed the way Mark Brunell beat him twice (once for a TD) as in his rookie year. he does not overpower opponents but does not seem to get stood up or pancaked like he did as a freshman (for example against Miami down there he was stood up at the line and Fiedler through the game-winning TD pass to Chambers) and he does command double-temas when he is at the point of attack and the DTs have profited from this. Is he Bruce Smith? No. Is the new contract for Bruce mith money relative to other DEs and the cap? No. The Bills have few other alternatives at DE so I don't even see why there is a question here. We would love a Jevon Kearse but we ain't gonna get him. I would also love to see us draft a Will Smith or Udeze, but the drop-off in out O which was worthless last year accompanied the lack of a speed threat at WR and it is clear Bledsoe ain't gonna play forever *that is assuming he plays well this year). We need a good DE, but given our other needs resigning Schobel seems like a very good idea and for the contract he signed the deal was done well.

It strikes me that there is no write answer for every individual because individual cases are so different. I had a history of injuries in college, I'd settle for less taking a lesser offer than FA would give me IF I remained healthy. If I had folks depending on me for cash like kids or a sick Mom or Dad, I'd settle for less taking an early offer. If it was my second contract and I already had racked in a bunch or Daddy was rich and left me an inheritance I'd roll the dice, buy insurance and gor for FA. It really depends upon the individual situation in terms of whether you are taking risks for others.

Could be, but if it is it will be the first time someone drafted since 1989 has produced the ultimate result in a decade and a half of the players you mentioned trying to be as good as the folks drafted in the 80s like Elway and Aikman. Its ironic to me that the focus and importance which most fans place on the QB has been unaccompanied by any achievement of footballs ultimate goal. I think the QB class of 1983 was a big part of the 80s being declared the era of the QB, but the 90s and beyond probably should be declared the era of the late-round drafted QB. The Bradys of the world seem to have inherited the mantle of the Montanas.

Before you go too far in assigning blame when the likely sack happens (though all Bills fans hope it doesn't), remember to take into account that for the most part it is the OL that gives up a sack and not a single player. If it is a speed rush to the outside and a tackle gets beat one on one, then I think it is quite legit to blame that one tackle. However, on stunts, inside rushes, and on plays where a blocker gets two assignments (as happens sometime because they are asked to chip block a first rusher but give fuller attention to a perceived delayed rush, the fault is shared. I hope this year sees some thoughtful analysis that reflects the reality of protecting the QB rather than simple analysis which does not get at the true problem.

Oh contraire, this one isn't completely wrong and an oops yet. With Sobieski being added to the PS, neither Pucillo or Sobieski has the starting LG spot. Pucillo is slightly ahead as his spot on the bench gets him in the game if an injury occurs, but don't give up hope yet.

Since Dallas selected Troy Aikman in the 1st round in 1989 there has been no QB drafted in the first round since then who has won an SB. Having finally won a playoff game last year, Manning looks like the likeliest possibility, but the losing results of Indy last night provides continued testimony why the Mannings and the McNabbs may fall short again when the final accounting on this year is done. Last year was a good year for 1st round picks because thanks to a brainfart by Farve, Manning at McNabb made it a 50-50 shot that the 2003 season would at leas see a 1st round selected QB would at lleast make the big game for the first time since McNair steered the Titans there in 1999. This 50/50 shot exceeded the usual 1 out of 4 shot that QBs drafted in the 1st round bring to the league championships (mostly courtesy of 3 consecutive championship losing efforts by McNabb teams) but alas and alack it was snakeyes again for 1st round QB choices. Perhaps folks want to give Blkedsoe credit for the the 2001 season Pats win. granted he did play an essential role in this victory as he threw the winning TD and played QB for the majority of a must-win game for the Pats that year, but clearly it was Brady's team and he deserves the lionshare (though not all) of the QB credit for that team. I guess JP Losman is rooting for Bledsoe to be the 1st round QB pick that will break the chain of failure of all 1st round QB selections since 1989 to deliver the big win for his team. However, it is beginning to look like a better bet that Losman himself might be the one to break the chain.

I think this thread exists because some folks are actually so deadset against Donohoe that there was some attempt when this signing occured to switch from complaining about Donohoe not signing Schobel and the two other potential high value FAs to then complain that he had overpaid for an "average" DE. I think relatively quickly (and particularly as the reported total value of the Schobel contract drops and people are factoring in the cost at 6 years because it is an extension) folks are seeing that this is a pretty good deal for the Bills even if Schobel is only average and quite frankly a steal if he has a break-out year (which is far from guaranteed but certainly possible). It amazes me how many folks seem to have a hard-on against TD. He sure ain't perfect, but he has been quite good at a number of facets of his job. Certainly a on one hand and on the other assessment of him is most accurate rather than the declarations of some posters of him as a total loser. I think this thread is a call to TD Haters to simply get a clue. There are enough things he can improve without folks manufacturering stupid arguments.

Actually o anonymous one, Izell Reese is seen as a better cover safety than a run stopper. He seems to match up reasonably well against a TE and certainly should easily b able to cover a 4th or 5th WR if the opponents go 4 or 5 deep with WR talent. As far as personnel goes, I think we are comfortable with Clements or Vincent covering anybody. McGee and Thomas problems are youth but each has show good cover talent at various points in their brief careers and certaonly stack up against the 3rd and 4th level talents of most teams. If it comes down to 2 TE sets, Wire has had some issues as a cover guy, but mostly it seems to be with speed guys rather than thumpers and once Milloy is back he too should be able to play bigger guys. As folks have noted the scheme which you confront them with is probably the major thing here. The big deal in these situations with an empty backfield is to have an approach which emphasises the pass rush so Brady gets as little time as possible to find the open guy among the 5. I like the zone-blitz for these purposes because the coverage scheme is deceptive and adds a couple of moments for the QB to sort out who is coming and who isn't.

Yeah, I have found a lot of commentary on TSW bemoaning this deal based on a view that Schobel is an average DE to be quite strange. I have actually viewed myself as one of Schobel's most repetitive critics because I would quite often respond to those who had in the Pro Bowl as soon as he hit double digit sack numbers his second year that this view ignored the fact that Schobel had registered a lot of his sacks by having a pretty constant motor which allowed him to keep after a QB who took too much time trying to find a receiver who got shut down by Winfield and Clements and a D that has been 3/4 good for awhile and finally performed for a full game last year with better personel (Adams, Spikes and Milloy added a lot to the puzzle) and a scheme (the zone blitz) which made up for a weak pass rush from our DL. I harkened back to the lousy tackling angles taken by Schobel as a rookie against Brunell and him being overpowered by the Fins leading to a GW TD as examples of his rookie play, That being true and said, Schobel has improved his technique and game each year he has been here and is on the verge of a potential break-out year if he continues at this rate of improvement. Add to that, as you point out each time you read about this deal the raw numbers and overpayment that every athlete gets looks better and better for the Bills. The belly-aching about this deal looks better and better each time I hear about it from not only a sense of the sport, but also from a sense of the business. I think a lot of the moaning is actually motivated by fan dislike for TD since it is not based in any sense of the game that I see or even any sense of the business. I think all Bills fans should be pleased as punch about this one from all I see.

I must admit that my chief memory of that game is a bad one because clearly dominating their team in many facets of the game, GW/Ronnie Jones called for a Sammy Mprros fake punt run in our territory which turned the ball over to them on downs and led to a Jax TD. The final score actually does not reflect our domination of this team last year, because some dodgy play calling by the Gametrust and poor execution by players of these "too-clever-by-half" efforts really tried to give it back to them. Even still we beat them handily on their turf.

I think both PW and JJ are "prefer to sign" rather than "must-signs" for the following reasons: 1. It's a long season and JJ's injury history and PW's age both make putting up big bucks for either player while they are still under contract a big risk- True risk is a big part of what this league is about and the good GM is thinking a season ahead, but the future is now like never before and what seems like a good move can become a disaster in the blink of an ACL. The Bills certainly should sign a great deal for to extend either player (ala the signing of Henry) but the team should not mortgage the ranch and the dog to long-term players that have a history of injury or are getting long in the tooth without good reason like a caddillac deal for us as long as we have them under contract for right here, right now. 2. TD has set things up so their are alternatives if they don't sign- The Schobel deal was a big deal for us because even today we lack really clear alternatives for back-up RDEs (using the two-headed LDEs as back-up and the Ritzman experiment seem to be the two alternatives. Though JJ and Big Pat are clearly better than there back-ups. Price has answered the call nicely when he has played, Teague has had successful experiences at LDE in Denver, Tucker has played some tackle in the NFL before, McFarland will get a chance to learn and show his stuff, MW was always talked about as eventually moving to LDE before his non-football problems and he has a year to right his game and even PS guy Sobieski excelled atthe position in college. We'd PREFER to sign JJ for the right price but there are a number of alternatives which even is individually slim together are far better than a making him a :must-sigh" at a bad price. Likewise at DT. PW is far better than what his back-ups have shown, but Edwards was a starter before in this league and continues his slow progress forward, Bannan was kept for a reason and his rookie year performance gives some hope, Anderson was drafted as a big deal and will get a chance to prove himself. In addition, the Bills will get all out of Adams they can and have still flirted with folks like Gibson so they are looking if necessary. 3. TD obviously plays the "bird-in-the-hand" well- He certainly overpaid for Milloy because the market demanded that he must as the demand was high enough (Chicago among other teams had cap room and need and the supply at that point late before the season began was simply Milloy). However, from Henry, to Adams to Schobel, TD has shown the ability to fashion contrafts and cajole players into coming to Buffalo for reported amounts which are quite kind to the Bills. He paid Takeo a lot but the deal was fair and paid off with him meriting a Pro Bowl. The WM deal looks pretty good and all signs point to him being on track to potentially become a top 5 draft choice taken by the Bills in the 20s. Moorman is locked up for a long time at a relative song. I love PW and have hopes for JJ in a OL in disarray, but i would not put either of these two in the must-sign category.

The Southtowns are really getting hammered with several creeks cresting at record levels due to the remnants of Hurricane Frances. Anither post said the pre-emption is weather related, but no official word. Howard has been a sick puppy so even if his absence is not illness related it is probably a great thing for his voice to get a days rest.

What a difference a year makes particularly in the NFL so I wouldn't count on the results of last year's gane predicting much for this year's game (afterall the first game against the Pat last year did little to predict the outcome of the last game against the Pats last year. I still think the Bills will win it, particularly since we are home. However, it will be a very different game facing Leftwich instead of Brunnell and given that Winfield really dominated that game with a couple of tackles for losses of Brady (who is injured and won't see action Sunday) and a tackle for a loss of Taylor is also long gone.

BuffBob- I flat out agree with your assessment that the AS deal seems quite beneficial and dfoable forthe Bills capwise and that though there is flexibility for the Bills if things happen this is not merely a two year and you must redo it deal for them. I also agree that if JJ or PW can reach a reasonable offer with the Bills we sign it, but I actually doubt this will happen and doesn't need to based on what the parties have said and done and their situations. My cut on this is: JJ- Obviously would love to have big bucks but has spoke openly about going home to settle with his next contract (AT I think). Unless the Bills make him an offer he can't refuse it makes sense for him from what I understand are his desires to play out and perform well this season and then he is in the drivers seat as an FA. Even if the injury bug hits him again, unless its a career ender, he still will be in good shape as a starting LT with some accomplishments in this league. Bills- The Bills would love to ink JJ to a long-term deal and bring further order to an OL in disarray. However, they do not want to give away the ranch and the dog to a player with a definite history of injury and given their overall cao structure. The Bills have put themselves in a position by accumulating a number of players with some tackle experience in their history (MW, Price, Teague, McFarland, Tucker. Sobieski and even the aborted effort at Sullivan) or preparing for the eventuality that JJ may be too pricey for their blood. They'd love to sign him long-term and given his history of injury their are some bird-in-the-hand reasons for him to agree to a smaller than FA market deal right now, but the upsides of him waiting are huge and the downsides of him waiting are not quite so huge but still substantial. Boh parties seem prepared for this eventuality and we'll see what happens or if someone blinks. I doubt either will. PW- He has been a difference-maker for us for a long time playing well when teams had him as their sole focus when the rest of the DL was weak and really benefiting from having Big Ted or Adams next to him to draw attention. However, he is an older player (due to his late start as a UDFA) and the next contract may well be his last. PW seems to love playing with Adams but he has seen how Big Ted has scored after the Bills said goodbye and many gave up on him. he would love to sign a cadillac deal abd has little reason to take less than the market will give him. The Bills have prepared for the possibility of life with out PW by hanging in there with former starter Edwards, keeping Bannan around, drafting Anderson. flirting with Gibson and be willing to go with Adams as long as he goes. If PW will sign a deal which places him below the market in the immediate the Bills would love to do it, but are not pressured to do so. In the end, the remaining cap room dictates a lot. Depending upon the details of contracts we do not know and the specifics of an individual deal I agree that the prsopects are there for them to sign one of these players but no pressure is there to do so.

I certainly have been one who viewed Wire at safety as a work in progress and an adventure at best. I think this vote actually confirms what I have advocated all along that the major way for him to contribute to this team is by focusing on being the next Steve Tasker rather than trying to round this square peg trying to make him into the next Kurt Schulz. I think the Bills have really wasted a lot of Wire's talent and contribution moving him around from SS to ST to FS. Injuries will push him into a prominent role as a back-up for Milloy (after a couple of years of learning through "interesting" decision-making I think he will up to the job), but one reason I want Milloy back is so that Wire can focus fulltime on the area where I think he can make his biggest difference as a Bill.

The word i heard out of camp was that Peters showed, soft hands, great speed for a big guy and that the pass-catching part of TE was his forte. However, it was the blocking part of the activity and the mental aspects of co-ordinating with his linemates which was the weak part of his game. Anyone else hear this or is there some other credible skinny or public statements about where he needs work. If these problems are his focus, he does not sound like a good candidate for tackle in my book, particularly with responsibility for the QBs blindside.

A rational assessment of who was the weak link on the Bills D last year certainly varied from game to game. However, even looking at the D from a perspective of weakness is probably not a rational way to try to assess what most feel was a very successful D and one which put up some good stats. The worse performer is probably better thought about as the "least strong" rather than the "most weak" The two things may be equal but the phrasing seems to be more applicable to a D which was productive. I'd judge the 2003 starting D this was; DE- Schobel- racked up stats like his sack total which show his consistent improvement over the three years. He has gained some strength and compensated also by learning the game (some of his rookie tackling angles chosen were embarassing). Hedoes not yet appear to be a force that other teams must gameplan around, but may become one if he shows the same level of improvement. DT- Pat Williams- A very good season last year but we've grown to expect this from a consistent performer. He will step it up a few times a game to make plays which are downright extraordinary. His play had suffered the two previous years when other teams could focus on him but the addition of Adams and with a good LV crew around him has made him even more effective. DT- Adams- O expected a big upgrade over Edwards from even an Adams in decline and he actually strapped it on and seem to take the game more seriously as realized he was getting older. Third parties took notice and reported that Adams showed up on plays at a much greater level than in the past. Opponents could never tell anyway which play he was going to go on vacation so they had to account for him all the time, but this year he took fewer vactions and it showed with some amazing plays from an incredibly fast first step. DE- Denny improved his play last year as much as almost any Bill. Unfortunately this speaks not simply to him showing him applying better leverage in using his big body and also showing some good athletic talent in covering downfield in zone-blitz situations, but it also speaks to how bad he was as a rookie when his leverage and bending properly problems forced the Bills to keep him inactive much of his rookie season. He lost his starting job to Kelsay in 2004 but should see a significant chunk of time because the Bills will apparently use the 3 DEs they have to man the two positions. Thougts that he is a bust seem to be an indicator that the poster does not know football or is caught in the past of their first impressions. LB- Posey- Perhaps one of the biggest disappointments last year to Bills fans but it probably speaks more to the fans having too high of expectations than problems on Posey's part as an athlete. He seemed to have trouble getting used to the move from the 3-4 he played in TX to the 4-3 the Bills employed. Gray/LeBeau also never seemed to employ him with direction and authority as they were always tempted to use him to bolster a weak pass rush. He however showed moments of brilliance (he hit David Carr so hard he hurt him) and he really seemed to be coming around toward the end of the season so this year is one of anticipation about what he is becoming rather than fear of what he was. LB- Fletcher- I also felt very good about his play. He will always be undersized and not the fastest kid on the block, but he rose to the FA demand he got when TD snagged him through his diligence, constant motor and understanding of the game. He exhibited all these features last year. His tackle total dropped mostly because we got better personel with him like Spikes. I think he is a stud. LB- Spikes earned his pro bowl appearance by working well with Fletcher and becoming a go to guy right away in a very good D. Not much you can say but keeo on doing what you do. CB- Winfield got alot of grief from folks disappointed by his lack of INTs, but he made up for this in my mind with some incredibly tough tackling, particularly by a pretty small package. His best game in my mind was the one against Jax last year where he simply destroyed plans they had to make use of their TE heavily and got several tackles for losses on outlet passes. It was pretty understandable that the Bills let him go as the $ they set aside to sign him early went for Milloy and once he survived the season (I thought the injury bug would get him given how hard he hit in a small body) multiples teams bid through the roof for him. However, getting turnovers is a key for us and not only did his tackle-first attotide work against this (despite him being a blanket cover-guy) but even his hits never produced a lot of fumbles. SS- Milloy was worth the too much money which the market forced the Bills to give him as the need we had for a starting caliber SS was huge (I love Wire, but his rookie year at SS was an adventure in decision-making for him since he had never played safety before) and Cota and Battles had retired on us. He single handedly allowed us to blast a better team in our first game and made a few game altering plays in the season and racked up one of the leading # of tackles for our team. Some fans were disappointed because they merely judged him by the fact he was overpaid because it is what the market required, but objectively he was one of the biggest factors of the improvement of our D last year/ FS- Reese really pointed to some weakness we had at FS. FS was not Prioleau's first position as he made his bones in this league as a SS. Reese provided better pass coverage than PP but Reese has to work hard to be the hitter we want and it was not surprising to me he ended up on the IR. I will not be shocled to see Baker actually unseat him as this rookie learns the pro game. CB Clements is a great talent who may have the breakout year we're hoping for now that he is out of Winfield's shadow and has Vincent to learn from. The kwy for him will be not to get hurt doing punt returns. So over all, I'd answer your question by saying that the least strong links on this #2 statistical defense last year was actually Reese and the early polay of Posey rather than Denny. This year I expect great things because Posey should be better. i expect Reese to be pushed by Baker and Denny has actually been supplanted by Kelsay though given that the Bills are only carrying 3 DEs I expect Denny to see a lot of duty and if he continues to improve at a level which saw him move from being inactive to starting on the #2 statistical D Denny may actually end up bringing some comparisons to The Stork with his big body if he proves effective.

I see the need the Bills had to pick an LDE two years in a row as certainly being prompted by some real failure on Denny's part as a rookie, but also in no small part it was prompted by: 1. The Bills moved from running a 3-4 to a 4-3. 2. At the same time they jacked up their need for DL players by 25% they were in the process of losing Big Ted as a cap cut, Wiley as an FA and Hansen to retirement. 3. This also came on the tail of losing the best defensive player we ever had, Bruce Smith, as a cap casualty. If you want to talk about the whole point, then look at the whole thing. I think one of the major failings of the GW era was moving to a 4-3 at the worst possible time. I think the Bills would have been shopping for prominent De help regardless of how Denny performed as this team needed to create leverage and prepare for the potential loss of Schobel.

Denny was the starting LDE on a D generally thought of being one of the better Ds in the league (you have to be good to play with an O that scores no TDs) and which did produce a #2 statistical ranking in the league. This sounds like at least some value to me. He is obviously no Bruce Smith but are the only choices be bruce or be a bust?

No, but so what. All NFL contracts are outlandish. Firefighters, policemen and of course our troops in our armed forces are paid far less and are true warriors. Read my lips- No NFL Player Is Paid At The Level of His Value! However, this is a question of market worth and compared to what the market offers today, the Bills deal for Schobel compared to his production is a bargain for us. The details are not know yet and will not be known for sure until next year when the NFL and NFLPA force the release of real numbers so they can keep an eye on each other. However, it seems clear that Schobel has gotten smaller payouts and caps hits that Wistrom, Ogunleye and Kearse. DEs who play a similar role on their teams to Schobel and even for those who produce more than him they are paid more as well. Even better though the Kearse output is significantly higher than Schobel (and the contracts reflect that) the injury history all works in Schobel's favor. Great move by TD from all I hear. The question now is Jennings and/or Williams. I actually expect nothing to happen with contract for either (though I will be overjoyed if I am wrong since the clear TD MO is to only sign when it is a good deal forthe Bills and the cap). In keeping Edwards, Bannan and acquiring Anderson it looks to me like the Bills are setting up for a future after Williams and Adams. The flirtation with Gibson seems consistent with this shopping. Jennings's future may actually be determined by the talk from him being an interest in leaving Buffalo and going home to the South. In acquiring members of the OL, the Bills are in disarray so there is a lot to be said for keeping your own. However, the Bills have made a point of signing players like Teague and Tucker who have a history of playing tackle. I think like the rest of the NFL they will overpay to keep the right tackle, however, Jennings history with injury provides indications that despite the quality of his play when he is in uniform he may not be the right guy to overpay. In both cases, I see TD signing them if they will take a cheap contract, but if not then he will let them go.

No he is not. Look at the depth chart and note that the Bills have no back-up at RDE behind Schobel and the word from the braintrust on this point is that the expect the two LDE candidates we started out with to put in some time at RDE backing up Schobel. Indications are that they are serious about this: 1. DEs often move around on the DL in this league as DCs try to confuse the opponent and to get mismatches. This pre-season saw Kelsay and Denny play some on the right side, I thought this was the usual mving folks around for variety but the braintrust seems serious about having them play that side. 2. We cut both Glidon and McKenizie. Cuts are not merely a judgment on whether a player is adequate, but whether he is better at a job than what we got. I found Glidon's play substandard as I think age has caught up with him, but I was impressed that McKenzie showed some good pursuit and recovery. he certainly shouldn't be expected to be a starter, but i think was a good candidate for sub work. The fact we cut McKenzie leads me to believe that they judge Denny to be a better value for production than McKenzie. 3. The Bills seem committed to a wave approach of using the DL so the back-up LDE/RDE will see alot of critical time for us. In addition, Denny still has some of the leverage problems with his big body that got him benched initially, but he has shown some good talent and production playing pass coverage in the zone-blitz scheme (asshown in his pre-season INT and the obvious advanatage his big wingspan provides for short-zone pass coverage). In my minds, a bust is like a Ryan Leaf or a Flowers whom the Bills let go because he had no value to them. Denny clearly has diappointed as all of us fans wanted him to be the next Bruce Smith (no mater how unreasonable out hopes are we're just fans). He disappointed big time because he had to ride the bench rather than be even marginally productive as a rookie. However, it simply makes no football sense to call thestarting LDE on the #2 statistical D a bust. he should be better and I am glad he was surpassed but he was not a bust at all given his output and the prospects we hold for him as an important part of our DL wave approach. He will not be an HOF player, but if you here talk this season that he reminds folks of a great player who was known as "The Stork" it will mean he is making his mark. I think he has shiwn enough talent and has the demographics that he may be able to do it.

Better than last year, but not up to acceptable levels (yet?). The difficult thing in making judgements about the O-line are: 1. In terms of production, the whole needs to better than the sum of the parts- Many people make the mistake of thinking the key is to simply figure out who the five best players are and get the 5 best guys onto the field. However, real world production seems to be determined more by which 5 guys work best together. An individual may be a good talent as a player or demographically good in terms of size, speed and test results, but the key to performance is how the players strengths and weaknesses (since no one is perfect we all have some) match up and how well they communicate with each other. Chemistry is key and the starting unit has simply not played together enough for mistakes not to happen. Good assessment and improvement will come not necessarily (though sometimes bad players are simply bad players) from figuring out who is to blame, but from figuring out whether the problem can be eliminated or at least covered up and compensated for by better communication and co-ordination. 2. As JMac has said he is no miracle worker- It is simply the truth that things can get better and they can still be not good enough at the same time. It seems hard to overstate how not-ready-for-primetime our OL coaching has been the last three years. GW hired his buddy Vinky to do the job and he had zero previous experience as an OL coach. Even despite being GW's buddy he still was bad enough to get canned. His replacement Ruel had one year's experience when he came on board. They were operating within an Kevin Killdrive O that it is only now coming to light that the players gfelt as bad about it as this board did. The average experience of SB winning OL coaches is something like 13 years. JMac has 25 years experience and recently oversaw NYG making the SB with none other than Dusty Ziegler leading the charge. JMac seems to have improved many things (the on the field output and success will be the ultimate test) but given the starting problems, Mike Williams head going south after the death of his Granny who raised him and the injury problems he and Price have had, the Ol is a work in progress at best.

I guess cause I'm a risk averse sort, I measure our prospects based on our plan Bs in case a horrible injury occurs that no one can predict or some well-regarded pro or prospect pulls a Mike Williams out of the blue. I think one of the hallmarks of the Bills in the early 90s was that we had or things worked out on the Plan B level pretty well for us. The sterling example of this proved to be our depth at QB where it turned out that the injury bug laid out O centerpiece Jimbo Kelly for three games but Frank Reich who had done the same thing in college proved able to lead the team to glorious comeback wins and could be our plan B for three games. Even our disaster QB Gilbert proved SB capable eventually when he went to SD. Fortunately we never needed Kenny Davis to step in for Thurman, but I felt secure that if Thurman went down we would be OK. The problem with this year's team (and it may the slary cap and escalating big salaries causes this problem for all teams) is that I don't think we have the plan Bs at QB (we lacked a proven #2 even before the injuries), on OL, at TE and on the DL (where we have to cover up our potential lack of more than theoretical plan A with the zone-blitz scheme. I think you are right that injuries are all important because I simply do not see credinle plan Bs at several positions when like all teams their are even plan A question marks. We could (should) do fine and I am very hopeful, but also quite fearful at the same time. However, I guess that is what having faith is all about!

The Phins should not only have to forfeit, but the win should go to the Yankees. On a serious note, is it just me or does the impacts of the Hurricane season seem to be getting worse. True weather trends need to be measured over a geologic time scale so given our scant 100+ years of weather records and accurate trend cannot be drawn from events in our paltry lifetimes. Even if the storms are getting worse, part ofthis greater damage maybe on the supply side as we now have more economic activity to wreck on our shorelines. Also, even if the storms are getting worse, perhaps the cause of it is ranome chance or Martian control as much as man-made activity. We just don't know. Nevertheless, warming of the planet by human activity is a fact shown by science. One theory of the impact of this warming is more intense hurricanes though this may not be the case. It would seem prudent for the US as the world's largst producer by far pf greehouse gases to adopt policies which encourage over mandate in some obvious cases greater efficiency in our energy production to reduce greenhouse gas production. Some wealthy will take a huge profit hit from doing this, but other wealthy will see great profits from this as the US creates more efficient energy production which can then be sold. The details are higly debatable as to what they should be. However, the problem here seems to be because the folks currently in charge want only to study the problem and then reject their studies which indicate their is a problem that there is no debate about what to do. Let;s do something, because it seems that the US can benefit from taking some action to reduce greenhouse emissions or at worst it will be an even trade (hits for some wealthy people and benefits for others) and overall in the big picture if we are wrong about greenhouse gases the result is not a net loss, but if our worst fears are right then the net gain is very high.