MichFan

This game reminds me of the Tampa game from last season, just a couple of weeks later on the schedule -- on the road in a tough environment against a league-leading defense. The Bills made a game of it for a while against the Bucs, but Mularkey played too fast and loose with JP when Tampa put us against our goal-line and he took a safety that turned the momentum of the game. We need Takeo back and a solid effort from the O-line to take pressure off of JP/WM if we're going to pull this one out. A-Train and DJ should have some motiviation, hopefully they get the team fired up.

Wow, haven't been around here since BiB passed on and now I know why. You liberals fail to be stimulating or entertaining. Chavez' speech yesterday and the warm reception it received should be the final straw in the US efforts to rehabilitate what is a terminally ill patient -- that being the UN. It is an impotent institution, and a discgrace to the world. It is time for the "non-aligned" nations to form their own little boys club and become self-sufficient (e.g., stop taking US taxpayers money as aid only in turn to bash us for being an evil civilization). It is time for the "aligned" nations get on with addressing issues.

Big deal Whitner, Cutler could have made that play too.

Radio said it looked like a backward lateral, not a forward pass -- thus should have been no pass interference. Those watching on TV, is that right?

F'ing Wire. Should have been cut weeks ago.

Watch out Daunte, not much longer until MM throws you under the bus thinking his job is on the line.

Almost 2:1 TOP in favor of Miami -- of course the defense is getting tired. Offense has blown two mid-field drive starts and the defense is paying for it.

This game had two excellent football teams -- I give a lot of credit to ND despite the score. Michigan has a new coaching staff on both sides of the ball and that was the difference in this game. While the old Michigan would have found a way to lose it in the 4th quarter, the new staff continued to exploit the matchups that worked to their favor. Notre Dame's rushing defense was very impressive in the game, and the D-line pressured Henne all game. Their secondary couldn't keep up with Mich's receivers and that was their downfall. Brady Quinn did not have as bad a game as some of the media would lead you to believe. His receivers had issues with dropsies, he was pressured fairly consistently, and Mich's secondary provided great coverage when not playing prevent. I was very impressed with Weiss' post-game presser and don't understand why people around here are riding him so hard -- I could care less that he was a Pat, he was a class act in defeat yesterday. ND could easily run the table and still end up top-5 by the end of the season. Hope that happens for you Irish fans out there. Michigan still has a tough schedule ahead of them -- Michigan State in particular has an immense grudge for losing the last two games in OT, one being an unbelievable 4th quarter comeback by Henne and Braylon Edwards.

I was glad to see a player actually act like there is still a rivalry going on. The only quotes I've seen from Bills players is that they don't think this game is bigger than any other.

What a disgusting chain of events. A cowardly and selfish act with devastating consequences. For the kids, the parents, the friends -- thoughts and prayers go out to them.

Miami hands down. New England is a stitch in time, Miami is a 30-year thing.

You need to optimize the package for the situation. You don't use a back like WM on a 4th and 1. That doesn't make WM a bad running back, it just means that at this point in his career he is not as well suited to the situation as ATrain. WM showed some real upside in the game. With this O-Line, however, ATrain's versatility and better recognition of when to use power/when to use finesse would probably yield more productivity. That is a frustration we'll have to cope with all season. WM is the man and needs the time this season to mature into a more versatile back (or seeya).

Nah, don't be so hard on yourself, it was my fault. After watching the first half at BW's, I decided to spend some time with my family and listened to the second half on Sirius.

I'd say his bargaining power with the Patriots just skyrocketed.

Right call. Wrong personnel.

Exactly. Part of the selling point with JP is mobility, so when the chips are down why not take advantage of it? MM and buddies made the same bone-headed mistake at Tampa last year when JP took a sack while "learning to be a pro QB". Happened again this year and cost us the game. I say it's stubborned coaching/play-calling. Neither were the proper settings to "develop" a QB. Heck, why does he need to "develop" that way in the first place? If he's got wheels, we should use them to get us out of trouble in a tightly contested game.

Listening on radio -- man do I miss AVP's color commentary.

Many years ago I was reading a beer book that had reviews of a bunch of beers, mostly microbrews and imports. I was suprised to see that Genny Cream was in there was considered pretty good (3 out of 5 stars) by the experts.

Agreed -- we have a special player (character wise) and a special organization to allow him to address life's true priorities. I'll be pulling for the kid, even though he was a Buckeye.

IMO -- last year was all about trying to parlay what was supposed to be a league leading defense into a playoff team. The goal seemed to be for the offense to do well enough to win a bunch of low scoring games. The plan was not necessarily to develop JP, just hope he would do well enough and let the talent around him carry things. There was a big problem with this thinking -- the defense fell apart, Moulds started showing a bit of his age, the O-Line had another horrible year, McGahee had a disappointing year, and the TE's were transparant. This year, instead of trying to mount another pathetic attempt at being a wild card playoff team who loses early in the playoffs, the Bills need to get back to dynasty building Marv Levy style. They need to take a step back with JP and develop him into a true star QB if that's possible. Putting him in an offense and expecting him to play as a veteran QB is just going to result in the same play we got last year. In fact, if we do this, I think we might be able to be a wild card team this year by pulling off a late season run.

Nice preview on the Bills over at Fox Sports: Link Most interesting to me is the comments on A-Train looking revitalized. If McGahee and A-Train can produce similar to how Barber and Dayne did for the NYG, it would certainly make JP's/Kelly's life a bit easier.

Paging Maxim Afinogenov ... paging Maxim Afinogenov ... there is a playoff series being played against Ottawa and we would like to see you doing things other than sitting in the penalty box, aimlessly meandering with the puck, and making turnovers. If Connelly is injured, your services will be greatly needed the rest of the way. Miller was great tonight, plus a little lucky. Hope the home ice advantage has the same impact as it had in the Philly series. The Sabres are being thoroughly dominated in every aspect of the game other than goals, goaltending, and turnovers. Fortunately those are the only statistics that have mattered so far.

Interesting -- Kiper was okay with Whitner at #8 but hated the McCargo pick. King is cool with the McCargo pick but hates the decision to go ahead and draft Whitner at #8. I guess whichever side of the issue you are on, you can build a case based on what the "experts" are saying. Me -- I'll wait to see how they perform over the next couple of years.

Sabres Goals: Two shorthanded goals (2nd and 3rd periods) Two in the last :30 of the period (2nd and 3rd periods) Two in the first :40 of the period (1st and OT) One power play (1st period) Simply an insane game. The Sabres were completely outplayed -- Ottawa had to have at least 2x the shots on goals, were much quicker, and much more physical. But in the end the Sabres took advantage of errors and a few flatfooted moments from the Sens and made them pay. Gotta love getting a game this way. The Sabres need to tighten things up, though, because they won't win 3 of the next 6 playing like this.

Couldn't agree more. WNY'ers have never met a politician who couldn't buy their vote with a promise of more socialistic policies. The only way growth and economic prosperity will ever return to the region is if they start buying into capitalism again and electing officials that will do what it takes to make the area competitive, despite the short term heartache it will cause.