BuffOrange

I have to admit I've often defended Coach P the last couple of years. 2 bad years after several good ones (although some were arguably underachieving) was forgivable for a school more known for basketball... But this is the make or break year - 3 garbage years is unacceptable. The season is over already, and it's a freaking joke. Who recruited the QB, he stinks, I don't care if he's only a freshman - McNabb took UNC to the woodshed on the road in his first game as an underdog. The announcers kept saying how underrated Purdue is - BS - watch them finish 4th or worse in the Big 10.

I never understood the time argument. The average game is 3 hours, so if you're going to invest that kind of time to watch, what's another 5-10 minutes to get the calls right? Of course in the case of the NFL, the refs are still too incompetent to get the calls right in slow motion, so that theory doesn't apply. Much like communism, it's a good idea in theory though.

The Jets will finish last in the AFC East, not 2nd as many are predicting. They're the only team in the division that is NOT stacked on defense. Pennington or no Pennington, they won't overcome that. I don't buy the Seattle hype. They'll win the division by default, but too soft up the middle on defense to be a serious contender. I do buy the Minnesota hype. For the first time in my 24 year lifetime, they may actually have a servicable defense. Don't sleep on Carolina - they're still better than Philly. The Rams window is officially shut. Wildcard if they're lucky this year. The Lions will improve, but not as much as everybody seems to think. The Dolphins will get worse, but not as much as everyone seems to think. The Jaguars will improve, probably as much as everyone seems to think. The Raiders will surprise some people, maybe even steal the division. I like their defense, plus the Chiefs & Broncos are overrated. Kyle Boeller, more so than any other player, will determine his team's success. Ravens could win the SB if he steps up with a decent year. I still say 9-7 and barely out of the playoffs for the Bills. Although this year could be a golden opportunity to make a run, since the Fish & Jets will be down, and the Pats will hopefully lose some hunger. After that - who knows - the rest of the AFC doesn't scare me that much. It's just too hard to be optimistic with an OL that has stunk for 9 consecutive years.

Considering it's a 12 team league that's not bad. Trent Green was a steal in the 7th round. Solid WR's. Basically your season depends on how often Henry&Martin find the endzone.

Yeh, I want to see a close game. Hope Cuse doesn't beat them too badly.

Bellicek is going to sign the midget after he already showed the rest of the league how to shut him down beginning in 1998? I don't buy it.

"I obviously like to hold on to the ball and take sacks". "I obviously stunk last year".

Is anybody else having problems playing decent, close games regularly? I finished my first season on All-Pro at 11-5, and other than one OT game vs. the Jets, there wasn't a single game decided by fewer than 10 points. I'd either lose by 2 TD's, or roll up 40+ points. I guess it's better than Madden's "cheat for whichever team is trailing" game engine, but it's still kind of a bummer. P.S. - the Bills defense is straight up nasty on this game.

That's not entirely true. Tennessee was a vertical passing team. And while Carolina and GB were run-first teams, when they did throw it they chucked the ball downfield. As far as NE, they won in 2001 with a crappy run defense, they won in 2003 with a crappy running offense. It's a phenominon nobody can explain. Any team that copies their style without having Bill Bellicek as their coach won't succeed. I actually agree somewhat with Gilbride's comments. But I also agree that he applied his philosophy horribly to a team that didn't have the personnel last year (no WR's and crappy OL). I mean, they didn't need to put together 4 long sustaining 80 yard drives to win some of those games last year - just ONE 40-50 yard drive would've done the job with the defense we had last year. Gameplan for ONE TD drive during the bye week vs. Dallas; capitalize on the safety/Winfield int vs. Houston; capitalize on the early turnovers the defense got in Miami; design something to score when it matters against a crippled Eagles secondary full of 2nd stringers.....just doing 2 of those 4 things would've made us a .500 team.

I agree - Preseason or regular season, we seem to be the only team in the league over the last 5 years that has consistent problems scoring against the Indianapolis freaking Colts defense.